The Premier believes that more changes were made to the fishery in 2024 than under any other administration in the history of the province.

Last spring was a tumultuous time in the fishery. Frustrated harvesters began showing up at the House of Assembly every day during the fall sitting, demanding some systemic changes to the way the fishery operates, which ultimately culminated in days of protests that effectively shut down Confederation Building – including on budget day.

Andrew Furey says government is essentially a facilitator between the two parties -meaning the FFAW and ASP- and ultimately got “caught in the crossfire.”

Furey calls it “unfortunate” that such a situation had to happen, noting that it “seemed to take on a life of its own” and government was trying to respond as fast as they could.

Furey says they conceded to several of their demands including having outside buyers, increased capacity, and potentially having the right to strike again – the legislation for which was passed at the end of the fall sitting.

He says the FFAW and ASP have two options in front of them. They can either choose to have that legislation come into force, which would give them the right to strike, OR, he says they can come to a mutual agreement on a price setting formula so that they don’t need to go ahead with the legislation. Furey is hopeful both sides can come together on an agreement.