Harvesters got the short delay in the crab season they were looking for.
The man who led a series of protests outside Confederation Building last week, waiting for an agreement with government to open up what harvesters hope will be greater competition at the wharf—had threatened yesterday to set his sights on Ottawa if DFO went ahead with the scheduled start of the crab fishery.
On VOCM Open Line with Paddy Daly yesterday, John Efford indicated that harvesters want a few more days to sort out the changes agreed to by provincial Fisheries Minister Elvis Loveless.
(Fish Harvesters protest outside of Confederation Building in St. John’s. March 21, 2024)
“Please federal government, listen to us, we want this postponed. We don’t want to have to turn our protests from provincial to federal, so please, listen to us.”
By yesterday afternoon, DFO had released the dates for the snow crab season. The fishery will start in most areas of area 3K on April 14 and in other parts of the northeast coast on April 21. Meanwhile harvesters can set their gear on the south coast and from Cape Freels to Cape St. Mary’s starting April 6.
Efford took to Facebook yesterday to ask harvesters to stand down from a planned protest today.
