US seafood processing leader Pacific Seafood Group in its press release states a bill that would limit the amount of fishing permits any one company can possess is targeting them. But some fishers claim the family-owned Oregon firm has generated an illegal monopoly that pushes prices down for the state’s fishing fleet – a move that would violate federal anti-trust laws.
Gold Beach Republican Wayne Krieger introduced Senate Bill 668, saying he is frustrated with the company’s power to hinder competition in fish prices. Pacific Seafood also facing a lawsuit. But the company has control of 50-70 per cent of the market for four key West Coast fisheries – whiting, Dungeness crab, shrimp and trawl-caught groundfish – according to economists.
The bill is supported by many saying that Dulcich makes efforts to ensure his competitors follow suit once he decides what prices he wants to pay fishers, so his company is unable to saturate their markets with cheaper seafood and leave competitors stuck with a surplus. In contrast, Pacific lobbyist Greg Peden of the Gallatin Group argued that Pacific Seafood’s ownership of fishing permits is “hardly monopolistic” because it possesses only 21 of the 2,200 available fishing permits in various industries, or about 1 per cent of the total.
He said that Pacific Seafood is the primary reason because Owning any more than three permits by one entity gives a processor an unfair advantage. Earlier this month, US District Court Judge Owen Panner decided that because Pacific Seafood has enlarged the market for whiting, fishers have enjoyed better prices for their catch.
