Shrimp processors in the province, one of the world’s largest suppliers of cold-water shrimp, stopped production nearly two months ago, blaming a rising Canadian dollar combined with dwindling global demand for seafood, reports TheChronicleHerald.
According to the news organisation, the shutdown left shrimp fishing vessels tied up at wharves and up to 2,000 plant employees out of work.
A tentative pricing agreement — to be signed Tuesday — has been reached with the processors that will pay fishermen 42 cents per pound for shrimp, Earle McCurdy, president of the Fish, Food and Allied Workers union, told TheChronicleHerald.
"That was our drop dead position and it took a while to get there, but eventually we were successful in getting that price," McCurdy said Monday.
The Association of Seafood Producers, which represents 11 shrimp producers in the province, had called for an agreement that would have offered fishermen five cents less.
Derek Butler, the association’s executive director, said the organization would comment on the deal after it’s signed.
Return of the Shrimp Fishery in NL
CANADA - Fishermen in Newfoundland and Labrador are back on the water after their union and the provinces seafood processors came to a tentative agreement on the price of shrimp.
