Seafood sector is united in face of tariff threats, says N.L.'s fisheries minister
Fishery roundtable holds first meeting, with focus on new markets and possible government help
A unified effort to navigate the Newfoundland and Labrador seafood industry through the uncertainty of U.S. tariff threats began on Wednesday, with more than two dozen people joining by video conference in the first fishery roundtable meeting.
The meeting was chaired by Fisheries Minister Gerry Byrne, who described the discussions as "one of the best meetings I've ever hosted."
The meeting was spawned from a broader premier's roundtable that was assembled last month in response to a threat from U.S. President Donald Trump to place a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian goods entering the U.S. market, including seafood.
Unity is often hard to find in the fishing industry, but competitors and rivals appear to have put aside their differences in the face of this threat.
Joining the meeting were leaders in all sectors of the fishery, including union leaders, processors, harvesters, marketing specialists and the aquaculture industry.
"The meeting went exceptionally well," said Byrne, who spoke with reporters at the conclusion of the 90-minute meeting on Wednesday.
Among those taking part were Dwan Street, president of the Fish, Food and Allied Workers union, and Jeff Loder, executive director with the Association of Seafood Producers.
The threat of big border taxes is causing widespread anxiety in this critical industry, despite Trump's decision on Monday to pause tariffs for 30 days.
His chaotic approach to trade has kick started a movement to reduce the dependency on U.S. consumers, and search for new seafood markets, not only in Asia and Europe, but also at home in Canada.
Such an effort will take time, and likely won't reduce the heavy dependence on the U.S. market this year, but could diversify the marketplace for future harvests, said Byrne.
"We need to get involved and put our efforts toward the existing Canadian market," he said.
The provincial government is kicking in nearly $6 million as seed money for the market diversification effort, to be spent over two years.
How and when will this money flow? Who will be eligible? Those details will be worked out ahead of the next roundtable meeting, which could happen "as early as a week from now," said Byrne.
But, he said, all sectors of the industry will be able to tap into the funding for things like trade missions and financing help for new domestic and foreign export ventures.
Byrne is also calling on the federal government to help the diversification effort through financing and export insurance support by agencies such as Export Development Canada.
And if the fishery is hammered by tariffs, discussions are underway for an Ottawa-funded income support program.
But Byrne is not ruling out direct support from the province.
"We will never abandon them on the economic side of this industry and we will not abandon our workers who may be impacted by this," he said.
WATCH | The CBC's Terry Roberts reports on the united fishery:
Meanwhile, the trade talk is coming at a delicate time.
The fisheries union and processors are locked in negotiations for a wharf price. And with the threat of a 25 per cent tariff on the table, the climate for such talks have rarely been this complicated.
But united scenes like the one on Monday, when leaders from the FFAW and ASP held a joint news conference, are a cause for hope, said Byrne.
"I have never seen a more cooperative, collegial of effort and response," he said.
And there's added pressure because all sides want to start the crab harvest two weeks earlier this year — on March 15.
Before that can happen, however, the federal government will have to sign off on an earlier start to the harvest.
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