Too foolish to talk about -
As I sit here writing this, they are still yarning away about the crab fishery. I've been thinking. Maybe they should get some Newfie Screech and pass the bottle whenever they want to yarn about a subject.
Hmm, that still won't get them nowhere because there is nowhere to go. The money is tight and there are not enough rich people to buy all the crab. Hmm, why can't the skippers of those big fishing vessels buy the crab after it has been processed. It would be nice for the crew to sit down and have a feed of crab meat without having to take it out of the shell.
I was told many times, not to put my head in a nutcracker by writing about the crab fishery. But, hey, someone's got to tell it like it is. After all, it is better to tell it like it is, instead of some big mouth distorting the facts.
Some big mouth fools will shoot of their mouth about the fishermen. Even those who depend on the fishermen for a living will run them down to the dirt. And in lots of cases it's all because some people don't know what they are talking about.
Listen to some of the people who come on the open line show on the radio. Alot of them might be strong in the body, but they are sick in the mind. They need to learn to put their brains in gear before they use their mouth.
Before you go bad mouthing the fishermen, keep in mind that is was fishermen who developed places like New-Wes-Valley, Lumsden, Cape Freels, and many other places on the shore. If it weren't for the fishermen, there would be no work in the fish plants. And you cannot deny that the fish plant is the backbone of the community.
The trouble with the crab fishery is the same trouble that rears it ugly head every year - money. All fishermen want a share of that money. If the crab fishery doesn't start, who will get the dirty end of the stick? The answer to that question is the small fishermen and plant workers. Those big fishing enterprises can afford to miss a couple of years fishing.
Do the banks have anything to do with the start of the crab fishery? What about if the plant needs money? The banks know that the market for crab is bad and refuses them the money to buy crab. Now what? The plants can't afford to buy unless they pay enough to lose their shirt. The fishermen can't fish unless they can make enough to pay their bills. Who is to blame for the mess? Not the banks. Not the plants. Not the fishermen. The ones to blame are the greedy ones who got the world in such a mess by bringing on this recession.
Who sets the prices when the product goes on the market? For example, take lobsters. Last year, the price of lobsters was way down, but in some supermarkets, they were way up. I have a niece who lives out in BC. She went to buy a lobster at the market. The cheapest one she could find was $50.
I don't know why she complained so much, in most places it is cheaper than a tub of 'baccy.
Most trouble comes from the fact that there are too many fishermen. When there are too many chasing the same species, the market becomes overstock. When this happens, the price goes down. This always leads to bitching and bawling and no one getting anywhere. Another source of trouble is not enough species to fish for. What will some fishermen be doing after the crabs? The lobster is a dead-end fishery. Not everyone is at the herring. The fishing for squid is only going on in certain places. Thanks to the opening dates, the lumps in some area are here and gone when the fishery starts. There is the cod.
There is plenty of cod out there. Now, the inshore fishermen got at the crabs because of the closure of the cod fishery. We are allowed to catch a few pounds, just enough for some to go get a feed at a fast food outlet.
With the crab fishery in a mess, the DFO should give us a bigger quota of cod. About 25,000 pound per licence. By doing this, the inshore fishermen will have something to fall back on.
The last resource is to tell Premier Williams that oil can be taken from crab shells. I'm telling you, one crab shell could be worth more than Williams.
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