It’s looking more and more like the players in the crab fishery, a $2-billion sector of the industry, are going to be butting heads instead of working together.

The Association of Seafood Producers is asking the PC Government to explain to them the benefits of a policy brought in by the former Liberal government which allows the FFAW not only to catch crab, but to sell to buyers from outside the province.

Local buyers say they generate eight times more revenue for the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador than their counterparts in the Maritimes, and employ 6,000 plant workers. The ASP says the union is putting that at risk, and is instead planning to have a select group of harvesters ship 4-million pounds of crab out of province, all the while having all other harvesters tied up.

Executive Director Lorelei Roberts says the FFAW is also refusing to participate in the legislated collective bargaining process when it comes to terms such as pricing.

The crab season would normally begin in about mid-April.