When signing incorporation documents recently, president Ryan Cleary was told that it too closely resembled other names of previously registered companies.
They could still use the FISH-NL, but something had to be put in front of it.
“I just came up with the words Sea Change because what we’re proposing is a sea change from where things are now,” Cleary said.
So while it will be known in official documents as Sea Change FISH-NL, the original moniker is how it will continue to brand the organization vying to represent inshore fish harvesters across the province.
While FISH-NL is awaiting a decision on its application to the Labour Relations Board in an effort to be certified as a trade union, Cleary says the organization is making headway in representing inshore fish harvesters.
“I know that for a lot of changes that (Department of Fisheries and Oceans) have made, maybe its about compensation, maybe it’s about allowing fishing boats that couldn’t get out to fish because of the ice conditions, allowing them to transfer the licenses to other boats that were free, we lobbied for all kinds of things and we see that headway is being made.
“We are representing fish harvesters right now.”
Whether or not Cleary and FISH-NL can be presented as an option to represent fishermen at the bargaining table is left to the board, which, as a rule, does not comment on active files.
While the board has already deemed FISH-NL to be a valid organization of fish harvesters, under the Fishing Industry Collective Bargaining Act it must prove to have the support of more than 50 per cent of all inshore harvesters in the province.
The question before the board is what that total is. The Fish, Food and Allied Workers (FFAW-Unifor) union says there are more than 10,200 inshore harvesters, while FISH-NL suggests the actual number is, at most, 4,743.
With 2,372 membership cards signed by inshore harvesters around the province, FISH-NL believes it has more than half.
In March, the board ruled that the FFAW must hand over its list of registered commercial harvesters so an accurate number can be determined.
At the same time, FISH-NL was asked to explain how the FFAW’s estimate was inaccurate.
Once that information is received, a board officer files a report covering all the issues, which is then reviewed in tandem with submissions from both parties.
The board can issue a decision at that time or, if it considers it necessary, order a hearing or a vote. And the board can put an end to an application without either.
Cleary says a vote needs to happen as soon as possible, and alleges that the FFAW is “playing favourites” and “cherry picking” certain inshore fishermen to avail of additional quotas in certain areas because they are not tied to FISH-NL.
On the south coast, he says, some harvesters say there are a handful of boats fishing halibut on a science quota for DFO.
“They wonder how come all harvesters weren’t notified that there were science quotas there that fishermen could apply for,” Cleary said.
“A lot of them have been identified by the FFAW as FISH-NL supporters and they’re invisible. They’re persona non grata.”
Twitter: kennoliver79
