Yet another crab plant located in southern Labrador will be without operations. Quinlan Group of Companies, who operates the annual crab production in Black Tickle, announced yesterday they would be pulling out of the area.
The announcement comes just a week after P Janes and Sons Ltd. gave verbal notice to the community St. Lewis, also on the Southern Coast of Labrador, they too would cease crab production operations.
MHA Yvonne Jones said on Wednesday that she has learned the company based their decision on a number of factors including a 50 per cent drop in crab production over the past two years.
“They feel that it is not viable as a business to continue to operate there,” Ms. Jones told The Labradorian. “They’ve had a very difficult time in Black Tickle in terms of the transportation system – the community is not connected by road, everything has to be shipped in and out of there and they felt it was very difficult to meet the schedule shipping with regards to the containers and the coat of them getting the product out of there and to the market.”
Ms. Jones said the decision leaves a huge gap to be filled in both of the communities in terms of jobs losses, financial revenues for the small communities and the community at large.
“We’re going to be working hard to look at how we can attract new interests to the fishing industry in the community and looking at how we can diversify employment in the community and meet the needs of the people that are there,” Ms. Jones said.
She will be scheduling to meet with people in the community of Black Tickle in the next week to discuss the announcement.
