The FFAW says the failure to reach a satisfactory price for snow crab is an “economic bombshell” for the province.

Today should have seen the start of the lucrative snow crab fishery in Newfoundland and Labrador, but instead, the fishery is in turmoil after the price setting panel set the price for snow crab this year at $2.20 a pound.

That, says FFAW President Greg Pretty, makes fishing the resource unsustainable. He says a price that low completely ignores the economics of small business harvesters.

Pretty states while processors can, and will sell crab for that price and still turn a profit, for harvesters it’s a “recipe for economic disaster.”