Fish harvesters score meeting with provincial minister, agree to pause protests
CBC
After two days of protests outside the Confederation Building in St. John's, fish harvesters scored a meeting Friday morning with the provincial fisheries minister.
Protest leader John Efford Jr. addressed a crowd of fish harvesters in a parking lot across from the building at 8 a.m. NT, saying he would be going into the meeting alongside the Fish, Food & Allied Workers union executive, including union president Greg Pretty.
But the meeting came with a catch.
"We gave a concession yesterday to get the meeting this morning," he said. "The concession was no protests during the meeting. So our promise in good faith is we're going to remain in this parking lot."
Fish harvesters have been protesting since early March, calling on the provincial government to make several structural changes to the industry. Protests intensified on Wednesday, as harvesters blocked Confederation Building on the day the province was supposed to unveil its 2024-2025 budget.
The protests continued on Thursday, leading the government to introduce the budget with no opposition MHAs, labour unions or media in attendance.
Harvesters are demanding "free enterprise" — the ability to sell their catch to who they want, when they want and where they want. They also want to see processing limits lifted and new licences issued, giving them more options for selling their products.
The fisheries minister has said he's willing to concede on several demands, and has already issued an expression of interest for outside buyers in the snow crab industry. The harvesters want to see similar changes made in all fisheries.
It's not clear when the meeting will end, but Efford Jr. said he'll update fish harvesters as soon as it's over.
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