UPDATE: Vessels Turned Away and Transport Trucks Blocked from Delivering Out-of-Province Crab
April 27, 2020
Since last night, two out-of-province vessels were turned away in Port Aux Basques and denied offloading their crab in Newfoundland and Labrador. Many others turned back at-sea. The vessel operators were understanding of situation. NL fish harvesters did not interfere with crab being iced and boats were refueled but were not permitted to offload. The boats turned back without incident.
Three transport trucks carrying out-of-province crab are currently blocked from delivering their goods to plants in other areas of the province. Two transport trucks were blocked by harvesters in South Brook, and one other truck was blocked in Goobies.
FFAW-Unifor is calling on Premier Ball to intervene as the Association of Seafood Producers (ASP) has refused to negotiate a fair price for crab with NL harvesters and has put plant workers’ health and safety in jeopardy with insufficient safety protocols and personal protective equipment. Harvesters and plant workers are asking the provincial government to prohibit all out-of-province and out-of-country crab from being processed in NL until the proper measures are in place for the NL fishery to begin.
Read more on the situation here:
Harvesters Block Out-of-Province Crab from Landing in NL
Plant Workers Raise the Alarm on Inadequate Safety Procedures as Companies Push to Begin Processing
Petition Garnered Over 3000 signatures since Saturday Night
FFAW Asks Province to Prohibit Out of Province and Out of Country Vessels from Landing Product in NL