It’s been a banner year so far for the lobster industry on Prince Edward Island.
The landings have been solid, the shore price record-setting and processors have been able to secure an adequate workforce.
“We got our labour and we got our labour on time,” said Jerry Gavin, executive director of the P.E.I. Seafood Producers Association.
Gavin said there were some challenges in getting temporary foreign workers to Canada this year. Workers from Mexico and the Caribbean had to be chartered in, so processors in all three Maritime provinces combined on the charters which worked out well, he said. In addition, “we have a great local workforce and we also have about 150 students as well, so all in all the labour was here.”
By comparison to last year, “It’s a much better year. When you think back to last year, we were down 20 to 25 per cent of our labour. We couldn’t handle all the lobster coming in. Some fishers were on catch limits, there was the unknown of what was going to happen in the marketplace. We got through last year,” noting one of the positives to come out of the pandemic is “it introduced a lot of folks to our products in retail.”
Catch-wise, Gavin said from the fishers, processers and buyers he has talked to, “this is a big year. It will probably be our biggest year in LFA (lobster fishing area) 24 and 26a. The catches in 24 especially are pretty high. A lot of volume of lobster came in but at the end of the day processors are able to handle it.”
Gavin said in a normal year, 30 to 40 per cent of P.E.I. lobster is moved off island for processing in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. “I would suspect that would be the same this year. Last year was a little lower. New Brunswick was in worse shape than us for labour. I suspect this year will be close to normal. There’s still a lot of product yet to be processed.”
Markets for both fresh and frozen lobster “are pretty strong,” said Gavin.
“I think it’s a combination of the food industry coming back, restaurants opening in the U.S. After last year with all the restaurants closed, cruise ships cancelled and all that, retail caught on and what has happened is you’ve got increased demand on the retail side plus you’ve got the food service industry coming back, plus demand in Europe, so markets look really good.”
For the last two weeks of the lobster fishery in LFAs 24 and 26a, fishers were fetching anywhere from $9 to $10/pound for canners and $10 to $11 for market size.
“That is record setting for P.E.I.,” said Charlie McGeoghegan, President of the P.E.I. Lobster Marketing Board.
“In Nova Scotia, they’ve seen prices a lot higher than that in March and April, but it’s nice to see. Back in 2005, we got $5.50/pound for canners and $6.50 for markets and in 2006 about the same. When you look at 15 years ago the costs of licenses, boats, engines, half-tonne trucks, buoys, rope traps, everything has gone up about 300 per cent.”
Last year when the season opened, P.E.I. fishermen were getting $4.50 and $5.50/pound for their catches.
“The price crept up as the season went along, but we feel it was way below what it should have been last year,” said McGeoghegan. “They used the pandemic as an excuse, but as we saw the demand was high through the pandemic. People decided to keep eating lobster. Buy it and take it home. We’ve seen a 40 per cent increase in that domestically in Canada, especially in western Canada.”
This year, the season opened with a shore price of $9/pound for market size and $7.50 for canners for the first week, when it dropped to the $6.50 to $7 range for canners and $7.50 to $8 for market size until the last two weeks of the season.
It started off better than average for sure,” said McGeoghegan. “The price held through this year too. We’re thankful the price was the way it was this year. We don’t think it should have dropped after the first week… but we’re happy with the last two weeks.”
McGeoghegan said once all the numbers are tallied, he expects landings will be on par if not better than in 2019.
Last season, fishers lost 10 days of fishing and in some cases were on catch limits to accommodate the labour shortage which “probably put the catch down by a couple million pounds. I think this year will be closer to what it was maybe even higher than what it was in 2019,” said McGeoghegan. “Just based on reports from wharves all over the place it looks like a strong catch this year.”
The lobster fishery in LFA 24 and 26a areas closed on July 3, after a three-day extension to make up for the three-day delay in the season start due to weather.
The LFA 25 fishery, which includes fishers from all three Maritime provinces, opens on August 9 and closes October 10.
“It is anticipated that the positive aspects of the spring season will carry over to the upcoming fall lobster season,” said Ian MacPherson, executive director of the P.E.I. Fishermen’s Association (PEIFA).
“As a major economic driver, a healthy rebound of the lobster sector in 2021 will have a significant positive impact for the Prince Edward Island economy.”
