An FFAW meeting in Baie Verte turned physical when FISH-NL representatives crashed the party and refused to leave.

FFAW President Keith Sullivan says they were having a regular meeting when Ryan Cleary and Peter Leonard “stormed in and began shouting”.

He says forty fish harvesters were at the meeting, and it was actually the assembled harvesters that asked them to leave, but they refused and had to be escorted out physically.

Ryan Cleary’s account is basically the same. He says they have been asking for a debate for years, and decided to confront Sullivan directly and demand one.

Cleary says the meeting was a “charade”, designed to detract from FISH-NL’s certification drive.

He says they were asked to leave and he did, but Peter refused, so he was “manhandled out”. They didn’t intend a physical confrontation, they wanted a debate.

Sullivan says Cleary’s behavior shows a debate would be a waste of time.

He says he’ll debate the issues with people who are relevant. The harvesters in Baie Verte were gathered to do just that when they were interrupted, but Sullivan says Cleary is making the industry a joke.