Photo Credit: Gerry Boland Studio & Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture, (Click on photo to visit Gerry Boland's photo studio)
Preparing for the crab fishery at Valleyfield, Bonavista Bay.

Landings for 1999 are expected to rise for a 5th consecutive year reaching 260,000 tonnes. Buoyed by higher quotas for shellfish and strong markets for crab, landed value is expected to increase by approximately 30% and approach $500 million. This will be the second consecutive year of record landed values. Furthermore, production value should exceed $900 million, also a record.

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Landings and Markets
During the first nine months of this year, groundfish and shellfish landings have increased by 28.7% and 11.6%, respectively. Higher landings are a direct result of increased quotas. Cod quotas increased to 30,000 tonnes in 3Ps and, for the first time since 1992, there was a 9,000 tonne allocation in 2J3KL. Crab and shrimp quotas each rose by over 12,000 tonnes this year. Pelagic landings, however, were down due to lower capelin landings and lower herring quotas. The capelin quota was not fully taken this year as strong fisheries in Norway and Iceland satisfied a substantial portion of market demand early in the season before the Newfoundland and Labrador fishery commenced.

The landed value for the January to September period is estimated at approximately $433 million, up 54% from the same period last year. The large increase in value has been partly driven by higher prices for high value species such as crab. Indeed, landed prices this season for snow crab have ranged between 55%-70% higher than last year’s levels.

Markets have, in general terms, been in a firming trend lately, however, conditions vary by species and product types. For example, snow crab markets are strong due to both solid consumer demand and lower world supplies. Resource problems in Alaska, the biggest competitor, have reduced the supply of snow crab. US demand for cod on the other hand has been tempered by competition from other suppliers and other whitefish products resulting in lower prices for cod block. Prices for shrimp have trended downwards as markets adjust to a new supply/demand equation induced by higher east coast quotas. Overall, market changes have been favourable.

In 1998, government and industry in a partnering process established a new mechanism for negotiating prices between harvesters and processors. This is the second year of a two year pilot project and, since its introduction, all major fisheries have started on time. This year the process was used to establish prices for six fisheries including the most important cod, crab and shrimp. The price settling mechanism is currently under review and a decision on its continuation is expected well in advance of next year’s fisheries.

Processing and Quality Initiatives
There are 145 active fish plants in the Province this year, compared with 169 last year. This lower number is a result of licence consolidations/transfers and Government’s policy of cancelling licences that have been inactive for two consecutive years. Some active plants have diversified production by processing other species this year. Cooked and peeled shrimp are now being produced at Jackson’s Arm, Black Duck Cove, Port aux Choix, Clarenville, St. Joseph’s, Bay de Verde, Old Perlican, St. Anthony, and Port Union. 

Government continues to be vigilant in its quality and inspection program to ensure consistency and top quality fish products for the international marketplace. Up to the end of September, over 3,300 inspections of processing plants, fish trucks, fish holding facilities and retail outlets were conducted, up from approximately 2,300 inspections for the same period last year. 

Employment
In its peak month, July, the fishing and fish processing industry provided 25,100 jobs. Average monthly employment in fish processing from January to October increased 27.7% to 8,200. Relative to last year, processing employment in-creased in each of the last nine months and is indicative of the underlying trend of higher landings of shellfish and groundfish. Higher employment in processing this year, however, was offset by a decline in the harvesting sector. The number of individuals reporting employment in harvesting declined by 18% from an average of 11,000 last year to 9,000 so far this year. Lower harvesting employment is reflective of licence buybacks, retirements, retraining and other post-TAGS initiatives and is consistent with government’s capacity realignment policy.

Aquaculture
Mussels, steelhead and salmon continue to be the major aquaculture species, representing 95% of production. Increases in the amount of cod raised in grow-out facilities were projected, but to date, gains have been limited by low cod quotas. (Small cod, caught in the wild and raised in captivity can grow substantially over a very short time frame.) Mussel production to the end of September was 1,200 tonnes. Annual production is expected to almost double last year’s level of 950 tonnes. The export value of aquaculture products in 1999 could exceed $16 million compared with approximately $13 million last year.