Now in its 10th year of operation, the Lobster Council of Canada (LCC) “has evolved to be a self-funding lobster sector organization that represents the entire value chain from the wharf to the market,” says executive director Geoff Irvine.
“Over the past decade we have taken significant steps to improve the way the lobster sector works together and raise the value of the lobster resource for all,” said Irvine, who has been at the helm as executive director since day one.
Irvine said the LCC has made significant achievements on numerous fronts, including collaboration and co-operation, branding and marketing, market access advocacy, market intelligence sharing, eco-certification, quality, automation, traceability and media and government relations.
“The LCC is the only table in the lobster sector that includes representatives from every sector including harvesting, buying and inventory managers, processing, live shipping, trading and exporting, lobster science, provincial and federal governments,” said Irvine.
The LCC has developed a Canadian lobster brand program for use by exporters and provides generic marketing support through trade leads, trade shows, marketing materials, education programs for international trade buyers through the “Lobster Academy” and other promotional activities.
This November, the LCC “is once again the proponent for the federal/provincial promotional activities planned for the China Fisheries and Seafood Expo,” said Irvine, which will include activities in Hong Kong and South Korea and an Export Café mission to three cities in Asia.
The LCC has worked with lobster stakeholders and governments to provide action and leadership on market access issues like lobster husbandry, invasive species challenges and the North Atlantic right whale, said Irvine and shares information to its members on export data, lobster landings, market trends, prices and other data.
“The more everyone in the lobster value chain knows about market pricing, trends and demand the better prepared they will be to make key business decisions that impact their individual business,” said Irvine, adding market intelligence sharing also “supports transparency and builds trust within the lobster sector.”
The LCC is the secretariat for the N.S./N.B. Lobster Eco-certification Society and works with the P.E.I. client group to manage the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) eco-certification for inshore lobster. “This allows our exporters to market their lobster products as MSC certified, an international certification that tells the market that our lobster fishery is sustainable.”
The LCC has done extensive work on developing quality grading standards for use at first point of purchase between the dealer/buyer and the harvesters; has been the proponent for two projects to review automation options for the lobster processing sector; as well as a proponent for a project to help the lobster sector understand and adapt to the need for traceability.
“Traceability is important for marketing, eco-certification and international regulations,” said Irvine.
The LCC has also became the “go-to” organization for domestic and international media and government departments who engage and work with the lobster sector.
The Lobster Council of Canada was established in 2009 to bring Canadian lobster industry stakeholders together to work on projects of mutual benefit. The LCC’s mandate is to enhance the value of the Canadian lobster sector in a sustainable fashion by addressing the issues of importance to the industry.
