For centuries, the fishery has forged a rather symbiotic relationship between neighbouring Canada and the United States.
Despite the occasional spat over stocks, fishing grounds and adjacency, the two neighbours have always managed to work through their differences and have become quite interdependent on each other with respect to seafood. With the U.S. being far more populous than Canada, it has always been the go-to market for seafood products caught and produced here.
But recently, it appears the focus of the Canadian seafood industry has changed from the traditional fish-hungry folks south of the 49th parallel to Asian markets farther afield — China in particular. And with the emergence of China’s economy, who could blame Atlantic Canada fish companies for plying their wares in the Far East.
China is rapidly developing an urban middle class of consumers with a taste for fish, wine, pork and other goods produced in Canada — notably lobster.
Canadian seafood exports to China alone jumped by 16.2 per cent between 2012 and 2013. Demand will only increase, as the Chinese middle class is projected to reach to 854 million by 2030.
China is becoming a preferred destination for Canadian lobster as demand skyrockets. In 2013, Canada exported $36.5-million worth of live lobster to China.
However, these new, emerging overseas markets for Atlantic Canadian seafood should be looked upon as growth opportunities and not as replacements for traditional consumers of our fish. It is more important than ever that more attention be given to the traditional markets that have allowed this multi-billion dollar Atlantic Canadian industry to grow and prosper — mainly the United States. With the weak, sputtering Canadian dollar, this nearby market is more important and attractive than ever.
The size and scope of the U.S. market is sometimes taken for granted — and it shouldn’t be.
According to Global Trade Atlas (GTA), the U.S. is the largest importer of fish and seafood in the world, with US$20.5 billion in 2014, an increase of 12.4 per cent from 2013. The U.S. imports fish and seafood from 136 countries and the top suppliers in 2014 were China with a 14.1 per cent share, followed by Canada (13.7 per cent), Indonesia (9.3 per cent), Chile (8.4 per cent) and Vietnam (7.9 per cent).
Primary fish and seafood imports into the U.S. in 2014 included frozen shrimp and prawns (US$5.3 billion), prepared/preserved shrimp and prawns, not in airtight containers (US$1.3 billion), fresh fillets of Pacific, Atlantic and Danube salmon (US$1.3 billion), prepared/preserved tuna/skipjack/bonito, not minced (US$1.1 billion), and frozen crab (US$860.2 million).
As the second-largest supplier of fish and seafood to the U.S., Canada sold US$2.8 billion of product in 2014 (based on U.S. import data). This represents an increase of 4.1 per cent from 2013.
Part of this increase was due to the significant growth in imports of Canadian frozen and live lobster, along with fresh scallops. In 2014, the leading products imported from Canada included frozen lobster (US$485.4 million), frozen crab (US$474.8 million), live lobster (US$359.2 million), fresh or chilled Atlantic and Danube salmon (US$321.0 million), and prepared/preserved lobster (US$220.3 million).
The U.S. was Canada’s most important destination for fish and seafood and received 33.7 per cent of Canada’s seafood exports in 2014. Overall, fish and seafood was Canada’s third-most significant agri-food and seafood export sector to the U.S. and represented 8.9 per cent of all Canadian agri-food and seafood products exported to our American neighbours in 2014.
As the local industry slowly and sometimes painfully moves towards developing new marketing initiatives for the seafood produced here, the U.S. must be part of that future sales equation. And this should not only involve current products, but new fisheries being developed as well — such as groundfish.
It is somewhat ironic to label the 500-year-old Atlantic Canadian cod fishery as fledgling and new, but after being out of the game for nearly a quarter century, that is exactly what it is.
With a renewed Newfoundland and Labrador groundfish fishery looking to be imminent, this industry is basically starting from scratch — with many questions yet to be answered: what approach needs to be taken toward re-entering the fast-paced, ultra-modern world of groundfish sales? How are the fish to be harvested? What about quality assurance measures? Today’s market is vastly different compared to the cod block days of the late 1980s — consumers’ expectations are much higher.
Like everything else in this on-demand world, customers want their product yesterday and if a vendor cannot deliver to those expectations, buyers will simply take their business elsewhere.
On paper, Newfoundland and Labrador is geographically positioned in a very advantageous situation — extremely close to the hungry U.S. markets. Sounds easy, but a sound plan must be found to deliver fresh and frozen fish to the markets of the world in a timely and cost-effective manner.
As a result, the current and potential markets in the U.S. should never be assumed or underestimated. Just because Americans have always purchased our seafood is no reason to think they always will. Atlantic Canadian fish harvesters and processors have to ensure that as much, or more effort is going into this steady and secure market as is going to the so-called emerging areas of the globe. The future of our fishery might depend on it.
