Newfoundland and Labrador producers are at the point where they are considering what will happen if the snow crab fishery doesn't begin immediately, said Loder. "That competition will happen, and prices will go up, and there will be incremental and differential payments if the market does go up," he said, adding other provinces' fisheries are the ones getting their product to buyers. The market system encourages competition, he said, and as the market works its way through the inventory, prices should rise. "Every single day that we are not fishing, we are compounding the complexities and the difficulties associated with the snow crab fishery."
There's a glut in inventory," said Loder, speaking for the first time since the provincial price-setting panel set a minimum price of $2.20 Cdn per pound for harvesters, who responded with protests and say they can't afford to fish for that price. Loder said each day the industry is delayed - with fishermen in the Maritimes and Quebec already out on the water - the worse it is for everyone. Jeff Loder, executive director of the Association of Seafood Producers said Monday the crab market has softened in the past few weeks, and the group will not negotiate a new price with fishermen.
The trade association representing Newfoundland and Labrador's seafood processors says each day fishermen keep their boats tied up in the hopes of getting a better crab price is only making an already dire season worse. (Patrick Butler/Radio-Canada - image credit) They can't swim away like fish," said Stan Carpenter of Bodega Bay, owner of the Seaward.Jeff Loder, executive director of the Association of Seafood Producers, says his group will not be negotiating a new crab price with harvesters. "It doesn't matter when we go fishing, we will catch every single one of them. With stiff winds and swells of 20 to 30 feet on Monday, fishermen said even if the price was resolved they wouldn't be going out. "When we start fishing in the middle of November, for the fresh market, that is a good crab." "We feel confident it will be in that area," Cappotto said. To determine quality, Cappotto said the Regina Marie, a boat owned by Aaron Weinzinger, went out Monday to catch a few crabs as a test.Ĭappotto said fisherman are looking for crabs with 24 to 25 percent meat, meaning that the typical two-pound crab would have a half pound of meat. "Last year was record-setting for history, but you never know until you throw your gear in the water." "I think it will be an all right season," said John Toler of Eureka, owner of the Soko. The sport crab season is already open, with preliminary indications showing healthy crabs. 15 because the crab are still not filled out with meat this early in the year. The California commercial crab season north of Sonoma County has been delayed until Dec. "If the fishermen get what they want on Thursday, we should have product in the stores on Friday," Delima said.Ĭappotto said that the fleet in Bodega Bay, San Francisco and Half Moon Bay will not venture out until a price is reached. If an agreement on price is reached within the next few days fresh crab is expected to be in stores in time for Thanksgiving, said Anthony Delima of Tides Wharf in Bodega Bay. Preliminary estimates are that this year's catch will be just less than half of last year's record haul, but that would still make 2011 an abundant year. That catch was twice as plentiful as the combined catches of both San Francisco Bay and Half Moon Bay. The dollar value jumped to $3.6 million from $387,450 during that time. Last year was by far the highest catch on record, 19 million pounds for Central California, a region stretching from Sonoma County and south an average catch is 5.6 million pounds of crab.īodega Bay fishermen unloaded 2.2 million pounds of Dungeness in November and December alone, compared to just 181,971 pounds during the same months in 2009, according to the state Department of Fish and Game. "It's a matter of being patient, letting the thing sort itself out." "The season will start when the season starts," said Jeff French of Morro Bay. The ocean Monday was too rough for the fleet to launch, consisting mostly of boats 40 to 50 feet, and the weather was not expected to break until Thursday.
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