The President of the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation says it’s been a positive year for their fishers.
According to the FFMC fishers received $27.8 million in returns this year, an increase over last year of $2.7 million.
Saskatchewan received $2.78 million in total payments from five and a half million pounds of fish.
However President John Wood is reminding Saskatchewan fishers they won’t qualify for a final payment next year.
Wood explains the reason is because of the fishers’ exit out from under the monopoly of the FFMC, a move they made in the spring.
Wood says the fishers’ initial prices will stay the same, but because they’re no longer signatories to the FFMC act they don’t qualify for a distribution of profits from the FFMC’s bottom line:
“It’s not just Freshwater being mean, that we’re saying no final payments now that Saskatchewan is no longer a signatory. Under the legislation we can only give final payments that are part of a province that is signed on to the Freshwater Fish Marketing Act. So we’re basically legislated into that position.”
He says signs are looking up for another good year though as deliveries are up from past years.