The Association of Seafood Producers is expressing great dismay with the appointment of a long-time former leader of the FFAW to the Fish Pricing Panel, but the union representing harvesters is shocked by the reaction.
The Standing Fish Price-Setting Panel is made up of regular member Earle McCurdy, and Michael Dewling and Brendan Condon as alternate members.
McCurdy, who served nearly 30 years as President of the FFAW, is seen in some sectors as being in a conflict of interest.
Derek Butler of the Association of Seafood Producers says the appointment needs to be rescinded.
Butler says it’s “a bridge too far” to contemplate that his “chief nemesis” is the man he has to ask to agree on his price in arbitration. “It’s just too much,” says Butler.
Butler is not alone. Ryan Cleary of Sea-NL is also concerned with McCurdy’s appointment.
(Keith Sullivan, file photo.)
FFAW President Keith Sullivan can’t believe Butler’s reaction, given that the panel is chosen through the merit-based process set out by the Independent Appointments Commission act.
He says a person who was in the same position in which Derek Butler is now was appointed to the Pricing Panel for over a decade. “I was totally shocked,” says Sullivan of Butler’s reaction.
