The Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation recently announced another strong year at its Annual Public Meeting in Winnipeg.
Company officials are also pleased with the response to its new program for Saskatchewan. Under the program, Saskatchewan fishers are eligible to receive final payments for the upcoming fiscal year, but only if they sign a five-year agreement with FFMC.
FFMC spokesperson Dave Bergunder says most fishing co-operatives in the province have already signed on.
“The offer is on the table until December 31st and at this stage I would say 80 per cent of the communities have signed on,” he said, adding “they have to go back to their communities, discuss it with their membership and vote on it and then they’ll make a decision.”
Bergunder says since the FFMC monopoly on fresh water fish ended in 2012, business has remained much the same.
“When the monopoly ended, most areas pretty much signed contracts with Freshwater Fish and the only thing that resulted in not being part of the monopoly is that previously when you weren’t part of the corporation, the fishermen of Saskatchewan did not receive any of the final payment, because they were not a member.”
This year, FFMC announced fishers received $26.5 million in initial payments and a final payment of $3 million for the 2014 to 2015 fiscal year.