As President of LFA 34’s Management Board, and Co-chair of the LFA 34 Advisory Board, he moderated the meeting where lobstermen were asked to address the chair in order to avoid the finger pointing that could erupt where 1,100 people worried about their livelihood gathered. “I look back to the stern of the boat, and there’s two young men. ‘What are they going to live on?’ asked one captain.” Another said, “There’s other businesses in the community that depend on us.” Votes were cast to end the strike December 3. “You wonder why we voted with colored paper?” questions Spinney. “972 fishermen were eligible to vote – Are you going to do logistics with 972 pencils? We had four colors. On the first vote, a yellow was a yes, pink, a no.” Originally, they’d considered little white tags with a written yes or no, but then somebody's got to mark (tally) that. In NS, there are 16 port clusters, each with a representative and alternate. “The challenge we put to the government was the fishermen are doing their level best, we’re doing our part. What are you going to do? We’re still taking it to the federal and provincial people. We don’t want a million dollar band-aid, just patience regarding loans. It’s a way for fishermen to go (forward) with their head up – they’re going to go proud.” Spinney told the provincial Minister of Fisheries, “We ought to be promoting lobster with the Gulf of Maine,” which he feels would get markets established with dealers who could promote them worldwide. “For LFA 34, there are 976 of us that have (lobster) licenses. For each one of us, we pay $1,890, plus $100 for ourself, and the boat, so it's $2,000 just to register to go lobster fishing,” Spinney explained. In 1957, his first license cost him 25 cents – he’s been fishing ever since. He’d like to see that privilege go to young people wanting to fish. Several years back, when MLA’s Patrice McCarron approached Spinney about speaking at a meeting, he wondered what he could possibly say. “These people were there from New Zealand, there was a banker from Bangor. There’s no script,” said Spinney. “You just walk up to the mike and take charge of the meeting.” So, he spoke to the fishermen about trust – transparency in the industry that allows it to function smoothly. Spinney lives by his words. After his tax accountant resisted when Spinney handed him a blank check, he told the accountant, “Look, if I can’t trust you with a blank check, I can’t trust you with a check. If we can’t trust each other, we can’t do business.” Spinney serves as co-chair of the Lobster Institute, with Dana Rice of Birch Harbor. A hard worker, he bagged bait while fishing with John Carter, of Bar Harbor. He’s also helped to plan the CANADIAN/US Lobstermen’s Town Meeting. Spinney said it might be better for the industry if “there was a negotiated price for lobster throughout the whole year, for example, if price was $7, $3.50 would got to the dealer, $3.50 to the fishermen.” He feels it would be of benefit to the dealers, and fishermen would have something they could go to the bank on. “There’s something in this neck of the woods – we call it tunnel vision; and that’s a very dangerous thing,” said Spinney. “People need to keep their back pocket out of it – their wallet – and do what's best for the industry.” When Spinney first started lobstering, there were what he calls the difficult years, which he says, “Makes you appreciate that you can’t always have the top of the totem pole all the time. There are ups, and downs.” It was a shock a few years back when George Stevens of Red Lobster/Darden Group told those attending Town Meeting that their chain set the prices for lobster plates two years in advance, but Spinney appreciated that Stevens told it like it was. While boat price is currently low, and conditions difficult for fishermen, Spinney points out “For ordinary people that do eat lobster in restaurants, price doesn’t change at Weathervane.” What fishermen have done in NS is drive three hours to Halifax, where their catch earns $5 /lb., and “The only regrets from our boys was, they didn’t have a bigger truck.” People in Halifax appreciated low truck pricing, and one customer ordered 25 five lb. lobsters at $5 /lb., while others preferred 2-pounders. “There is a market, and there is a demand, providing they’re not out-priced,” said Ashton. “Wherever there’s a fishery going on, there’s a difficulty. Some noses will be out of joint as problems are resolved,” making his point by recalling his own resistance to plastic coated wire traps when they first came out, saying, “Wire pots – No way, I’ll always fish wood” – until it aired up, and his traps washed out in a storm. His brother came to the rescue – with what else but some new wire traps. On December 30, 27 days after the 3-day strike in LFA 34, the price of lobster is $4 and climbing. Boat price was $3.25 (dropping to $3) December 1. “If it was $4 today,” says Spinney, “It could have been that price in early November. It’s discouraging, and made the men angry. It’s going to create a lot of thinking. Fishermen won't be so quick to swallow what dealers have to say.” What Spinney is working towards is an environment where fishermen are making the choices. While hauling, Spinney heard talk over the VHF about the newly adopted Sunday commercial fishing ban for the NS lobstermen. “If you’re going behind each day, why would you want to go behind an extra day?” joked the voice on his radio. |
