Aside from the weather delay for the season start in lobster fishing areas (LFA) 24, 26a and 26b, everything was a go for the Prince Edward Island spring lobster fishery.
“I think fishermen are optimistic going into the season. We understand inventories are lower than in past years so that’s usually helpful,” said Ian MacPherson, senior advisor with the P.E.I. Fishermen’s Association (PEIFA). “There’s a lot of enthusiasm to get out on the water and get fishing.”
Going into the season, fishermen were dealing with increased costs for bait and fuel, noted MacPherson. “There’s all kinds of things that come into play,” he said.
This year there was flexibility for an early season opening, depending on weather. Normally, the season opens on April 30, but could have opened as early as April 27. As it turned out, Mother Nature made the call with the boats leaving for the fishing grounds on May 3.
“We tried out the flex program this year which has been a real challenge because even though there was an allowance to start a little earlier, the weather hasn’t cooperated,” said MacPherson.
Meanwhile, the processing sector was ready to go for the season start, said Jerry Gavin executive director of the P.E.I. Seafood Producers Association (PEISPA).
“The temporary foreign workers, they’re ready to go. We are lucky this year. There’s no problem whatsoever with the labour situation,” said Gavin.
“There were some changes to Temporary Foreign Workers program that will help us this year and moving forward but as far as getting them in, a lot of them are in now and the rest are coming. We had to get them in a little early in case the season actually started on the 27th.”
Things are also promising with the return of the local labour workforce, said Gavin. An incentive program funded by the province and coordinated by the PEISPA that pays high school and university students bonuses of $1,000 and $2,000 respectively, provided they work 250 hours, is proving to be fairly successful, said Gavin.
In addition to helping on the labour front, the program introduces students to the processing industry, said Gavin.
“There’s been a lot of innovation and modernization in our plants… it gives them an indication of what the industry is like. There are other options too, marketing, accounting, red seal trades… It’s not like it was 30 years ago.”
More than 7,000 fishing boats are involved in the LFA 24, 26a and 26b lobster fishery. “There’s some positives when you look at demand for lobster,” said Gavin.
An increased demand for live and frozen lobster in the retail market, restaurants starting to bounce back in the U.S. and hope that travel and tourism will be up quite a bit are all positive indications, he said. On the negative side, COVID-19 has stifled demand in China and in Europe and the Ukrainian war rages on.
“The only concern is how high a price are customers willing to pay for it. If it’s too pricey, will it stay on the menu? It’s a fine line,” said Gavin.
“There are issues out there. There’s uncertainty every year. For every negative, there’s a positive, so we’ll see how it plays out.”
