Cleary Cautions Fish Enterprise Owners After Learning Harvester “Lost it All”

Jun 17, 2023

The executive director of SEA-NL, which looks out for inshore owner/operators, is raising the alarm after learning one harvester “lost it all” to a fish processor which gained full control of his enterprise.

Ryan Cleary says DFO is investigating the case, and he’s encouraging enterprise owners in similar positions to contact the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

He says in this case, the enterprise owner was left with nothing.

Cleary says the small boat owner, who cannot be named because of the ongoing investigation, lost his boat, gear, and licences – including for snow crab – to a processor.

Cleary claims the man and his family were left “without a dime, or a clue, or real understanding of how it happened, how they had lost control.”

He says by law, licensed inshore harvesters must be independent and in sole control of their enterprises, licences and catches.

He’s asking other inshore harvesters who have lost ownership of their enterprises to contact DFO to launch an investigation.