The fishery has many structural issues that can be resolved if clearer heads would only prevail. The truth of the matter, as it stands today, is that many enterprises do not have the revenues to make their business work. So they are desperately trying various ways to widen the gap between Revenues and Expenses. One way is bringing in more outside competition. In todays structure, that will make very little difference to their bottom line. A few pans of crab sold outside wont cut it.
We need to completely rethink the fishery. We need to move away from this being a Quasi Social Program. We are competing world wide in a very competitive market, yet we are trapped in the "old" way of doing business that does not work in 2024.
They can increase revenues by first allowing more licenses combined onto one enterprise. 112,000 lb of crab may have cut it in 2000. You cant make ends meet with that amount of quota today. The amount of crab you can catch on your enterprise has to be tied to the amount you need to cover expenses and to make a decent living. Otherwise, whats the point of an enterprise??
They need more input/control of the whole system of "water to table", or the fancy word they use in business schools - Vertical Integration. An enterprise should be able to catch it, process it, and ship it to the end user.
Today, if I live in Salt Lake City, I can order my Lobster from a Maine fisherman, and have it delivered to my door for the dinner party I am hosting on Friday. And I can follow it the whole way online. We should have the same option for the Nfld Fishery. If a guy in Southern Harbour has 20,000 lb of Cod to catch today, he gets paid 70 cents a pound, or $14,000. Imagine if he could get $5 per pound selling to a restaurant on Broadway in New York City. Now he has $100,000. And he has a much better chance of running a legit business.
The issue shouldn't really be about quotas. It should be about maximizing revenue and value. Now, it seems like we are chopping up the pie so small that hardly nobody wins.
The fishery has many structural issues that can be resolved if clearer heads would only prevail. The truth of the matter, as it stands today, is that many enterprises do not have the revenues to make their business work. So they are desperately trying various ways to widen the gap between Revenues and Expenses. One way is bringing in more outside competition. In todays structure, that will make very little difference to their bottom line. A few pans of crab sold outside wont cut it.
We need to completely rethink the fishery. We need to move away from this being a Quasi Social Program. We are competing world wide in a very competitive market, yet we are trapped in the "old" way of doing business that does not work in 2024.
They can increase revenues by first allowing more licenses combined onto one enterprise. 112,000 lb of crab may have cut it in 2000. You cant make ends meet with that amount of quota today. The amount of crab you can catch on your enterprise has to be tied to the amount you need to cover expenses and to make a decent living. Otherwise, whats the point of an enterprise??
They need more input/control of the whole system of "water to table", or the fancy word they use in business schools - Vertical Integration. An enterprise should be able to catch it, process it, and ship it to the end user.
Today, if I live in Salt Lake City, I can order my Lobster from a Maine fisherman, and have it delivered to my door for the dinner party I am hosting on Friday. And I can follow it the whole way online. We should have the same option for the Nfld Fishery. If a guy in Southern Harbour has 20,000 lb of Cod to catch today, he gets paid 70 cents a pound, or $14,000. Imagine if he could get $5 per pound selling to a restaurant on Broadway in New York City. Now he has $100,000. And he has a much better chance of running a legit business.
The issue shouldn't really be about quotas. It should be about maximizing revenue and value. Now, it seems like we are chopping up the pie so small that hardly nobody wins.