Shore price, shore price, shore price. Fishermen and fishing families know it is the shore price paid for lobsters that pays the bills. Shore price makes the boat payment, it pays for the seasonal help, the fuel, the bait, the truck, and the gear. Shore price puts food on the table and it keeps the lights on, and it keeps the fishing family afloat for another year.
But it is April 2010, and Island lobster fishing families have no commitment from buyers or processors as to the shore price for this season. You would almost  think buyers and processors have no idea what they will be paying for lobsters.
But where in all of this business of buying and selling and processing of Island lobster is the voice, the say, of the most important cog in the wheel - the fisherman?
The big boys - the Penney Group, the Barry Group, OCI - operate like they did 50 years ago. They still have the mind-set of the old "truck system" or the old credit system where they kept the fishermen in a state of semi-serfdom. But those days should be long over.
However, at every turn, people "in authority" - buyers, processors, politicians, government, DFO, all  of these entities do not want to see fishermen independent or to be in charge of their own industry. They love to see fishermen pitted against fishermen; they love to see area against area; they love to see fishermen disorganized and lacking a single, strong voice.
Fishermen and their families take all the risk; they assume the debt load; they do all the hard work; but it is other people that are making huge profits from the labour of fishermen. Make no mistake about it- there is money being made from lobster fishing.
Fishermen look around  and wonder whom they can trust to help them  take control of their own industry. Fishermen have long memories and perhaps these events may come to mind: Wes MacAleer and Kevin MacAdam orchestrated the deal that gave birth to Polar Foods in 1998. There was too much processing capacity and six small processors became one, sort of. After costing Island taxpayers over $31 million, these processors walked away millionaires.
In 2004, the Pat and Mike Show (Binns and Currie) gave Island fishermen the infamous OCI deal. Island fishermen look at this deal as one which gave to an off-Island company a monopoly over the processing of lobster. Again Island fishermen curse this deal.
Fishermen will never forget the battle fought and won in Souris as fishing families and the community came together to protect their fishing resource from the herring seiners. During this standoff, both Liberal and Conservatives politicians (Easter and  Ballum),              the police, and the judicial system - they were no friends of the fishermen.
Fishermen do not forget the attempts of Kevin MacAdam and Buck Watts to bring "professionalization" to Island fisheries. And what about the three-year mandatory herring plan concocted by DFO and sold by Geoff Regan and Shawn Murphy.
The most recent insult to Island fishermen, and to the truth, came out of the mouth of Olin Gregan, executive director of the Processors Association. I am not sure what kind of "fish oil" Mr Gregan was on but when he claimed that Island fishermen were paid "as much or more" for their fish than anywhere in Atlantic Canada, the "corrections" by local fishermen were swift and to the point. Has Mr. Gregan apologized yet? Has he offered a retraction? Was the comment made deliberately on behalf of the processors as an attempt to undermine the legitimate demands of fishermen that the shore price better reflect the reality of the marketplace - at least $4 and $4.50 per pound!
The Ghiz Liberals promised to overturn the OCI deal, and, in fact, three fishermen were elected to help achieve that promise. But what happened? The present government got into bed with OCI and that incestuous relationship is still going on.
Island lobster fishermen will and should sell their catch off-Island, if their hand is forced.  If  Ghiz and LeClair refuse to tell OCI to pay a fair price to Islanders, then Ghiz and LeClair are placing into jeopardy the jobs and the livelihoods of hundreds and hundreds of Island fish plant workers. If the lobsters go off Island the jobs go with them.
So what are Island fishing families to do? There are no easy solutions, but the first hard steps have to be taken. There is no one out there, so far, that fishermen can trust so they have to trust each other. If the FA is not meeting your needs  then, perhaps, a new single, strong organization is needed. What about a union? An organization is required that will deal directly with fish companies to establish shore prices and lobby government for favourable fishing policy. A union can be a huge asset in the marketing of your product. Fishermen need a seat at the negotiating table that sets shore prices. A union would demand such an arrangement.
Fishermen have to organize politically and get legislation passed that will help to solve a number of "fishing dilemmas." You have lobster and the world wants what you have. You have to organize and take control of your own industry.
The OCI deal has to go. Fishermen need a social and political movement aimed at breaking the monopoly of this fishing corporation. Legally, the Competition Act of Canada, if referred to in a court action, should rule against the OCI contract. A monopoly and unfair competition are against the law. The Island government should have been in court years ago supporting Island fishermen.
How much income tax has not been paid by Island fishermen because their income has been artificially depressed by a corporate monopoly? Estimates range into the $100.000.000 area. Breaking the OCI deal, even if a penalty was applied, would have been a sound economic move for the entire province.
Island fishermen need a plan. They need a vision. They need single, strong leadership.
A strong shore price of at least $4 and $4.50 per pound is needed both to pay the bills and for fishermen to regain the confidence to stay in their industry  and to contribute to the long-term viability of their industry. Rural PEI needs you.
Larry McGuire
Morell