The president of the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation says he is aiming for a smooth transition on April 1st.
That is the day Saskatchewan commercial fishers officially exit out from under the monopoly of the FFMC, and are legally allowed to sell their catch to other jurisdictions.
It was supposed to happen last April, but the province granted a one-year moratorium to allow all parties more time to prepare for the new reality.
FFMC president John Wood says they have agreed to buy the rest of the winter catch from Saskatchewan through to the end of April.
After that, he explains they will offer one-year contracts to all of the co-ops in the province:
“These contracts would be for the purchase of fish on an all-or-nothing basis. In other words, if the co-op wishes to sell fish to Freshwater, then they’ll be signing a contract that has them selling all of their fish to Freshwater. If they don’t want to sell all of their fish, then we won’t be buying any fish.”
Wood says the FFMC is doing this to ensure it gets enough product to fill a truck, and so they’re not left cleaning up the fish other buyers don’t want.
He stresses all the co-ops will be offered a contract for the first year, but after that things may change:
“We’ll be offering it to all of the co-ops, but let’s realize this is the first time through this scenario for all of us. We may find that there are co-ops that are in an isolated area with no one else around interested in selling us fish. We may have to say: ‘Look, this isn’t working out for anybody in this region so we won’t be able to buy your fish next year’.”
Meantime, Wood explains as part of the province’s departure from the FFMC monopoly, the FFMC will no longer be offering payroll services.
He says local buyers will have to take over that responsibility.
Wood also says fishers will no longer be eligible for final payments:
“Saskatchewan fishers will not be eligible for final payments, if there should be any, because not being part of the legislated mandate anymore, we can’t really have them participating in the profitability of the organization — which is unfortunate, but that’s just the way it is.”
An official with the provincial government says Saskatchewan still plans to withdraw from the Freshwater Fish Marketing Agreement with the federal government on April 1st.