Photo by Lonnie Snow
Once again, lobster fishermen from throughout southwestern Nova Scotia will be gathering in Yarmouth this fall for frank discussions and hear expert advice on issues facing the industry.
The third annual SWNS Lobster Forum is being hosted at the Grand Hotel on Sept. 19 by five fishermen’s organizations; the Maritime Fishermen’s Union (MFU) Local 9, Coldwater Lobster Association, Scotia Fundy Inshore Fishermen’s Association, the Bay of Fundy Fishermen’s Association, and Brazil Rock 33/34 Association.
The lobster by-catch monitoring program which comes into play this fall for lobster fishing areas (LFA) 33, 34 and 35, a panel discussion and workshop on right whales, offshore petroleum exploration, waste mitigation and lobster markets are among the topics that will be up for discussion.
“The Bay of Fundy Fishermen’s Association is a big supporter of the lobster forum,” said spokesman Colin Sproul.
“We think its greatest value is that it’s proving unity between all the lobster fishermen’s associations in southwestern Nova Scotia. The only way forward to survive as fishermen is to work together,” he said, encouraging all LFA 33, 34 and 35 fishermen to attend this year’s forum. “It might be one of the most important decisions you’ve ever made.”
One of the keynote speakers for this year’s forum is John Sackton, founder of seafood.com. Based in Maine, seafood.com provides news services, market analysis and consulting to the seafood industry. Sackton has been writing seafood industry news since 1977 and has worked in numerous facets of the industry.
“There’s a lot of turmoil going on in the (U.S.) lobster industry due to trade issues and so part of what we want to look at is how this affects Canadians and the Nova Scotia lobster industry, which actually, you think would be a lot of opportunity, because they make up the majority of lobster going to China that would be coming from the U.S.,” said Sackton in an interview.
The lobster fishery in Nova Scotia is “almost exclusively a live lobster trade,” said Sackton.
“The Nova Scotia fishery is set by the demand for live lobster and the holiday market strength in the Christmas market in Europe and the New Year’s market in China. This year, Canadians should basically have those markets to themselves which will give the Canadian lobster industry an advantage of a higher value compared to higher U.S. lobster.”
With the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) that came into effect last year, live lobster exports into Europe are now duty-free and tariffs on frozen and processed lobster are being phased out over the next two to four years.
“Basically, in the two primary markets, Europe and China, Canadians are going to have a structural advantage,” said Sackton. “All of that should help keep the price up somewhat. That doesn’t mean it will be higher than in prior years, it just means it will be higher than what it might have been otherwise,” noting factors like market demands and the economy still come into play.
Details about the industry-run lobster bycatch monitoring program, or the “non-DFO plan” as Bernie Berry, president of the Coldwater Lobster Association, likes to call it, will be also be on the agenda.
“We’ve got our office staff and we’re getting everything lined up,” he said. “We will be hiring technicians the first of September, moving towards a mid-October start-up when LFA 35 opens.”
Berry said the five fishermen’s associations involved in implementing the program have had very good feedback and numerous applications from industry.
Waste mitigation is another topic up for discussion, said Berry. “We’ve came a long way from 30 years ago from chucking everything overboard. Things are changing, and we have to look at it differently, make sure we don’t fall back and keep it going forward. We want a clean ocean.”
Registration for the forum can be done onsite the day of, starting at 8 a.m. Programming starts at 9 a.m. and runs until 3:30 p.m., with a lunch break. Lunch will be provided. To pre-register go to http://www.lobsterforum.com/
