The fisheries union is accusing some companies of bypassing harvesters in Newfoundland and Labrador and buying product from St. Pierre and Miquelon.

The FFAW says Quinsea and Royal Greenland, who are members of the Association of Seafood Producers, are blatantly refusing to pay the 69 cents per pound for sea cucumber set by the price panel. Instead, the FFAW says they’re exploiting harvesters by landing the fish from the French islands at a mere 50 cents. The union says the action amounts to an illegal lockout.

President Dwan Street says the two companies’ refusal to honour the panel-set price, coupled with their importation of cheaper product from another country, is a calculated move to undercut harvesters from this province and weaken the collective bargaining process.

To compound matters, she says smaller processors, who initially had gone along with the 69 cents, have reversed their stance to align wityh Quinsea and Royal Greenland.

She’s calling on the provincial government to step in.

A protest is planned in the community of Grand Bank for this afternoon as a vessel carrying such product is expect to land.

VOCM News will have more information on that situation as it becomes available.