New Partnership Brings Hope to Processing Workers on Northern Peninsula

January 15, 2020

FFAW-Unifor members in St. Anthony are cautiously optimistic following an announcement today that will potentially bring more work to people living on the tip of the Great Northern Peninsula.  St. Anthony Seafoods Ltd., currently owned by Clearwater Seafoods and St. Anthony Basin Resources Inc. (SABRI), announced a new joint venture between Clearwater and Quin-Sea Fisheries. The announcement indicates that the new partnership will result in more raw material processed at the plant, and in turn, more work for employees of the plant.

“This is certainly good news for the people of St. Anthony. We are optimistic this partnership will bring in more product and more stable work to the employees who have experienced a difficult few years due significant declines in shellfish raw material,” said FFAW-Unifor President Keith Sullivan.

St. Anthony Seafoods employs approximately 100 people on the tip of the Northern Peninsula, processing northern shrimp and snow crab. The plant has struggled to provide enough work in recent years due to significant declines in shrimp and crab quotas.

“This new partnership is very welcomed news to us. I’m optimistic for the future of the plant and for the positive impact this could have on the workers who are remaining at St. Anthony Seafoods, as well as the potential for new jobs in our region when the plant expands into new species,” said Trudy Byrne, FFAW-Unifor Council Member and employee of St. Anthony Seafoods.

According to the news release issued by Clearwater today, the companies aim to expand into the production of groundfish in the coming years. Increased groundfish processing capacity on the Northern Peninsula is also good news for fish harvesters in region as their fish will no longer be trucked long distances for processing.

FFAW-Unifor looks forward to working with the new ownership at St. Anthony Seafoods.

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For media inquiries, please contact Courtney Glode, FFAW-Unifor Communications at cglode@ffaw.ca  or 709-743-4445