MESSAGE FOR PLANT WORKERS: STABILITY FOR ALL
January 16, 2026
We know plant workers are concerned, and we hear you.
This is not about fish harvesters vs plant workers. What’s happening right now isn’t about one group or one issue. It’s about the future of our entire industry and we all have a stake in this fight. We cannot let companies turn members against each other.
Royal Greenland/Quinsea, Ocean Choice International, Quinlan Brothers, Beothic Fish Processors, and Barry Group International. These 5 companies control approximately 80-90% of the overall total buying and processing capacity in Newfoundland and Labrador.
CLOSURE OF MAJORITY OF PROCESSING CAPACITY BY ASP COMPANIES
These companies are not working in the best of interests of plant workers. If they were, they would not have bought up and closed down a staggering 80% of plants in the last two decades. These companies should be focusing on recruitment and retention of local workers instead the drastic increase in temporary foreign worker usage.
STABILITY FOR ALL FISHERY WORKERS
A stable pricing system isn’t just about what harvesters get or what product moves through the plants. It’s about protecting jobs, communities, and the livelihoods of everyone connected to this important work. When prices are unpredictable and the system breaks down, it affects every one of us.
A chaotic and untrustworthy pricing system hurts everyone. Seasons don’t start on time, and conflicts cause stress, anxiety, and uncertainty each spring.
COMPETITION MEANS INDUSTRY STABILITY – NOT THE LOSS OF JOBS
Free enterprise should mean competition that rewards quality and commitment—not a race to the bottom. If companies truly care about the communities they depend on, they’ll show it by paying fair and competitive plant work wages and fish prices that keep our product, and our future, here at home.
STAND IN SOLIDARITY: WE ARE IN THIS TOGETHER
When our fellow union members are facing a battle, we stand together in solidarity. When plant workers faced a possible strike, fish harvesters spoke out in support. Ten years ago, the price gap between NL and Gulf crab went from 10 to 20 cents USD difference to a difference of 1.06USD this year. This gap is inexplicable and a direct result of market manipulation, price fixing, and illegal collusion among ASP member companies.
UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL
We’re stronger when we stand together. Whether on the water or in the plants, our goals are the same; stability, fairness, and respect for the work we do. When we unite as one voice, we make it clear: Newfoundland and Labrador’s fishery belongs to its people, and its value should stay here in our communities.