Angry crab fishermen forced the House of Assembly to close briefly Thursday afternoon, in the latest confrontation between crab fishermen and the Williams government.

About 100 fishermen disrupted the daily Question Period by shouting and booing as Fisheries Minister Trevor Taylor defended his plan to restructure the crab fishery.

Crab fishermen brought the House of Assembly to a halt Thursday.

Fishermen drowned out Taylor as he rose to respond to a question about the government's production quotas program, which will guarantee processors access to crab quotas.

Fishermen say the plan will eliminate competition in the lucrative crab industry, and take away hard-fought power from the harvesting sector.

The fishermen stood shoulder to shoulder, wearing white T-shirts with the slogan "a promise is a promise."

The slogans refer to a promise they say Taylor made, that the crab industry would not be restructured without them being consulted.

Demonstrators, who invaded the gallery on the eve of Good Friday, yelled "Judas" at Taylor – a former fisherman and union activist himself – for initiating a plan they say heavily favours processors.

The booing continued until Taylor rose to leave the legislature, which stopped business for about 15 minutes.

Taylor said later he has no plans to change his mind.

Fishermen are currently voting on whether to boycott the launch of the crab and shrimp fisheries.

Strike votes are expected to be announced Tuesday.

Earle McCurdy, president of the Fish, Food and Allied Workers union, warned that fishermen will not go to sea unless Taylor backs down.

"They are prepared to tie up their boats to fight back against production quotas, and that's not a decision that people take lightly," McCurdy says.