FFAW President Greg Pretty and ASP Executive Director Jeff Loder
Both the FFAW and the Association of Seafood Producers indicate they’re ready to roll up their sleeves and get down to work to ensure a fair market price and smooth start to next year’s crab season.
A review team examining the province’s fish price setting process concluded that last season’s difficulties and lengthy tie-up were avoidable and it is recommending that formula-based pricing be adopted for snow crab months before the start of the season.
That means the process needs to start in the fall or early winter.
FFAW President Greg Pretty, who says the previous pricing process was flawed, calls the review report a “great post-mortem” of the chaotic season.
Pretty, who called for a crab marketing board, is pleased to see the focus on marketing of quality product included in the report. “We need something here to expand our horizons on crab, and to ensure that we maximize, to the best of our ability, the value of that resource in other markets.”
The ASP’s Jeff Loder is also pleased to see the emphasis on quality and marketing.
When all parties are working together to create the most value that can be created, says Loder, “you’re more likely to have an easier discussion regarding sharing and how a formula can be set up.”