The remains of the St. Mary’s fish plant after fire destroyed it during a storm on November 4 last year. Colin Burry photo
By Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Tyler Waugh
The writing had been on the wall for some time that St. Mary’s Bay Fisheries would not be rebuilding the fish plant in St. Mary’s that it lost to fire in November 2025.
There were signs for all to see such as company-owned property in the area used to accommodate workers being put up for sale.
It was made official to St. Mary’s Mayor Steve Ryan last week when the company owner told him they weren’t coming back and would instead be shifting operations to a new location, formerly owned by Quinn-Sea, that it purchased in Southern Harbour some 150 km away.
“We kind of knew it was coming, but it doesn’t make it any easier. It’s devastating … it’s hard,” said Ryan, who delivered the bad news in person to former plant workers. “Those were 150 local jobs, good-paying jobs.”
The news comes as a gut punch to the community, and the region, just a few years after the plant began operating after years of the facility having been dormant.
The new owner first had to get the operating licence reinstated before crab processing could start.
“It was over a two-year fight to get the licence and to get the cap lifted. It was a lot of work by council and our MHA, I myself put a lot into getting it here,” said Ryan. “It’s hard to see that disappear so quick.”
Temporary measures were put in place by government to help the company and workers deal with impacts immediately after the fire.
“They were good enough to get us through a season. They invested into a program that would see the Town employ 60 workers to give them enough hours to qualify for EI, but it’s for this season only. We have three people still working and I think it wraps up by October 13 and they’ll have their hours,” Ryan said.
The Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture issued a temporary primary fish processing licence to St. Mary's Bay Fisheries to allow the processing of snow crab at an alternative location.
“Independent Fish Harvesters Incorporated in Brigus was approved as the alternative processing facility for the 2026 season. This interim measure supports the continuity of operations, however St. Mary's Fisheries has advised that no processing under this temporary licence has occurred,” said Linda Skinner, acting director of communications for the department.
Skinner noted that primary fish processing licences are not tied to particular locations or communities but are held by licence owners.
Ryan said there was a six-hour council meeting on September 25 to discuss next steps. He said company ownership is willing to turn over the plant location to the Town if another company can be convinced to come and rebuild, and he has assurances from the Province that a processing licence will be made available if another company does move into town.
“We’re now going to reach out to the other ‘big five’ operators and see what we can do. A big thing for our town is we have a workforce of over 150 people and hopefully the company will stick to its word and hand the location over to us if we wanted,” said Ryan.
Ryan said, in the meantime, one of the concerns is that all of the jobs will go to temporary foreign workers at the Southern Harbour operation.
“Here it was 150 locals and 150 foreign workers, because the last time Southern Harbour was in production they had a tough time getting local workers,” Ryan said. “Crab is a product of Newfoundland – Newfoundlanders own it – and local workers are not happy that foreign workers may be coming in and taking all the jobs.”
Ryan said that the company went from paying fish plant workers $23.50 per hour in St. Mary’s to advertising jobs in Southern Harbour at $16.60 per hour, which is confirmed through a posting on the Canada Job Bank site for fish plant positions at St. Mary’s Bay Fisheries Inc., in Southern Harbour.
“You’re not going to draw a (local) workforce with those kinds of wages,” Ryan said.
