Basil Goodyear of Lumsden managed to fill his crab quota offshore in the 3K area on the northeast coast of the province, as did other fish harvesters from his area. For inshore fishers, that was not always the case.
“We had good catch rates, but there were lots of fellows who weren’t as lucky as us,” said Mr. Goodyear, an executive board member for the Fish, Food and Allied Workers union (FFAW).
According to data made available by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) as of July 24, 14 per cent of the available crab quota remained in the ocean. Most crab fisheries in the 3K region were closed by July 14.
Some areas faired particularly poorly. For the inshore fishery in the White Bay area, only 59 per cent of the quota was caught. Overall, 83 per cent of the inshore quota was caught for 3K, and 82 per cent of the supplementary quota.
“Most of the offshore (fish harvesters) in Lumsden got their crab, but there was several boats from the inshore that didn’t.”
Why this was so could be due to a number of reasons, one which may have been a shortage of crab.
“We’re all hoping that’s not the case, but we don’t know.”
Another possibility, said Mr. Goodyear, was that catch rates went down in June due to capelin and ground fish moving over the crab.
Ideally, he said the crab fishery could have benefited from an early start in 2010 were it not for the price dispute between processors and the FFAW. In the end, the fishery started late with no price change. The season was scheduled to commence April 1, but did not get underway until processors agreed to accept product at $1.35 per pound.
“We were warned we had to start fishing in the year in early April in order to get our crab in – DFO scientists told us this,” said Mr. Goodyear, adding the union and processors will hopefully get together early next year and come up with an acceptable price.
“It is a bit scary in 3K, and I know a lot of people are nervous.” - Basil Goodyear
“I can’t see anybody wanting to go through that again.”
The 2010 snow crab quota for the 3K area of 14,440 tonnes was a 12 per cent decrease from the 2009 quota of 16,475 tonnes. Whether the quota might fall further in 2011 will depend on the findings of DFO scientists.
“It is a bit scary in 3K, and I know a lot of people are nervous. I’m nervous about the stock,” said Mr. Goodyear.
The fishery had been extended by DFO by almost a month, but was eventually closed over concerns about the affects of the harvest on soft shell crab.
Mr. Goodyear returned to Lumsden at 4 a.m. on The Beacon’s Monday deadline day from a trek for shrimp.
“Shrimp look at lot better than last year,” said Mr. Goodyear, citing a stronger price as one major factor. “We’ve had six trips now, and they’ve been pretty much full trips every time with decent catch rates.”
The price has been 48 cents per pound versus an average of 42 cents per pound in 2009. However, Mr. Goodyear said it has recently declined to a level close to last year’s price. This surprised him, given the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the affect it would have on the supply of shrimp.
According to the Louisiana Seafood Marketing Board, shrimp is operating at 30 per cent of its normal production since the oil spill.
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