Critical Seafood Exports Showing Signs of Life
Nova Scotia and Atlantic Canadian seafood, especially lobster, is not just enjoyed by consumers around North America, but around the globe.
However, as you are aware, live lobsters don’t crawl to these foreign markets themselves. Part of the challenge for processors and buyers, notably for a live product such as lobster, is timely and efficient air cargo transportation.
Prior to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, air shipments of live lobster from this region were on the ...
Knowledge Itself is Power
To the surprise of few, the current season in lobster fishing areas 33–34 is turning out to be a difficult one.
Everyone involved with what is one of the world’s largest lobster fisheries knew the chips were stacked against them this year. Some have even called it a perfect storm of decreased landings, markets and prices, combined with early foul and inclement weather.
From lower shore prices, to international market uncertainty, to the back-breaking jump in inflation — these ...
Is the Retail Seafood Market About to Bounce Back?
Long before it kicked off, everyone participating in the lobster fishing area (LFA) 33–34 fishery knew 2022–23 was going to be a challenging season.
Lower shore prices, market uncertainty and record prices for bait and diesel are among some of the adversities facing harvesters this year.
Buyers and processors in Nova Scotia are also being extra cautious due to slower than normal international markets at this stage of the season. At the same time, fishermen have their calculators out ...
Adding Insult to Injury
Author Elizabeth Edwards once wrote, “She stood in the storm and when the wind did not blow her way, she adjusted her sails.”
With a challenging 2023 lobster season on the horizon, it looks as the though the resilient commercial fishermen in Southwest Nova Scotia might have quite a bit of metaphorical sail adjusting to do over the next six months.
Harvesters in this region are no strangers to adversity and they are certainly going to have to call upon that experience to navigate the ...
Ramping up the “Red List” Resistance
American author James C. Collins once said, “Bad decisions made with good intentions, are still bad decisions.”
After receiving and continuing to receive unmitigated backlash over its decision to “Red List” American lobster and Canadian snow crab, the California-based Monterey Bay Aquarium is sticking to its misguided guns — at least for now.
As everyone in the Atlantic Canadian fishing industry already knows, as part of its Seafood Watch Program, in September, the conservation ...
Monterey Bay Discredits Itself With Red Listing of Lobster
One of the key points about Non-Governmental Organizations’ (NGOs) ratings of fisheries is their variability.
Different organizations have different levels of independent governance, transparency and public accountability.
The recent red (avoid) listing of American and Canadian lobster by Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch is an example of how rating organizations can reflect their own organizational biases.
Seafood Watch is not among the nine seafood rating organizations benchmar...
The Greying of the Fleet
Rodney Dangerfield once said “It’s great to have grey hair. Ask anyone who’s bald.”
And one does not have to visit too many commercial fishing wharves and harbours across Atlantic Canada to see plenty of examples of that grey hair peeking out from under ball caps.
According to the federal government, for the first time in Canada’s history, there are now more individuals over the age of 65 than there are children under the age of 15.
In Atlantic Canada, more than one in three ...
A Call for Cross-Border Collaboration
Canada’s Commitment to North Atlantic Right Whales
Since 2017, many of us in the Canadian lobster industry feel like we’ve been trapped in a South Park episode.
There has been a steady drumbeat eager to blame Canada for the plight of North Atlantic right whales (NARWs). The unfair red-listing by Seafood Watch just adds fuel to the fire.
Right whales were rarely observed in the Gulf of St. Lawrence until recently. Historically, they never ventured much beyond their norther...
Why Has the Shellfish Market Fallen So Hard?
U.S. shellfish, including snow crab, lobster tail, king crab and crabmeat, have all experienced some of their most rapid, and in some cases steepest, market declines in the past eight months.
But shrimp, by far the largest volume shellfish item, has not seen a significant price decline. Urner Barry’s (UB) value-added shrimp index has barely moved, even while the volume of U.S. shrimp imports continue to set records.
What factors made shellfish so vulnerable to a rapid correction, but ...
Canadian Centre for Fisheries Innovation: Your Local R & D Resource
The Aquaculture Canada and World Aquaculture Society North America 2022 Conference is a perfect occasion to celebrate the tremendous work of all the people and organizations who have contributed to the growth and development of aquaculture in our country, and around the world.
They are to be celebrated because they recognize the immense opportunities that arise from providing sustainably sourced seafood to a growing world population that is hungry for it and because they are willing to face ...
Critical Seafood Exports Showing Signs of Life
Nova Scotia and Atlantic Canadian seafood, especially lobster, is not just enjoyed by consumers around North America, but around the globe. However, as you are aware, live lobsters don’t crawl to these foreign markets themselves. Part of the challenge for processors and buyers, notably for a live product such as lobster, is timely and efficient air cargo transportation. Prior to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, air shipments of live lobster from this region were on the ...