Standing “in solidarity with the fleet” to secure a fair price
From KMXT/Kodiak by Kirsten Dobroth January 22, 2023
The National Education Association’s Alaska chapter is standing with Kodiak crabbers. That’s according to a letter from NEA-Alaska President Tom Klaameyer to the president of the Kodiak Crab Alliance Cooperative, Luke Lester, and it’s the first statewide organization to formally back the fleet amid price negotiations with local seafood processors.
NEA-Alaska represents 11,000 public school employees in the state; in his letter, Klaameyer said the union supports the crabbers’ “fight to secure a fair price,” and is standing with the fleet “in solidarity until this fight is over.”
Kodiak’s Tanner crab fishery opened on Sunday, Jan. 15 – 193 vessels, including 128 from Kodiak, 14 in Chignik, and 51 from the South Peninsula, are registered for this season, but all of them have been standing down, saying Kodiak canneries’ offer of $2.50 per pound for Tanners ahead of this season was unfair.
