Why Has the Shellfish Market Fallen So Hard?
U.S. shellfish, including snow crab, lobster tail, king crab and crabmeat, have all experienced some of their most rapid, and in some cases steepest, market declines in the past eight months.
But shrimp, by far the largest volume shellfish item, has not seen a significant price decline. Urner Barry’s (UB) value-added shrimp index has barely moved, even while the volume of U.S. shrimp imports continue to set records.
What factors made shellfish so vulnerable to a rapid correction, but ...
Billion-Dollar Clearwater Deal With Premium and Mi’kmaq First Nations Coalition Finalized
A coalition of seven Nova Scotia First Nations communities is now the proud co-owner of one of North America’s largest vertically integrated seafood companies and the largest holder of shellfish licenses and quotas in Canada.
The billion-dollar sale of Clearwater Seafoods Incorporated to Premium Brands Holdings Corporation and FNC Holdings Limited Partnership, representing a coalition of Mi’kmaq First Nations, was finalized on Jan. 25, after Clearwater shareholders voted overwhelmingly ...
Making Do With Less
Canada’s capture fishing industry is facing a very serious crisis, due to decreasing landings and a shrinking workforce.
Some aspects of that crisis are already apparent, but others will become increasingly obvious as time passes. We need to be thinking about how to deal with it.
In 1990, fish landings in Canada totaled 1,598,281 metric tonnes. In 2016, they were 831,980 tonnes, just 52.1 per cent of the 1990 total.
Fisheries on both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts suffered drastic ...
Back in Play: P.E.I. First Nation Restarting Province’s Only Shellfish Hatchery
Walking into the Bideford Marine Centre feels a bit like visiting some mad scientist’s laboratory out of a movie.
All around are vats of varying sizes filled with water bubbling violently, each coloured in various shades of green, yellow and red and all glowing brightly, lit from behind with purple light.
But, thankfully, the only person around the lab on this particular visit is far from mad — or he at least hides it very well.
That’s Steven Palmer.
On this particular day, ...
Learning from 40 Years with the 200-Mile Limit – Part II
Last month’s column dealt mainly with how Canada obtained the 200-mile limit in 1977, leading to great optimism about the future of the fishery in Atlantic Canada, but things did not turn out as expected.
Starting in 1992, just 15 years later, we imposed a series of moratoriums on fishing groundfish stocks to try to conserve what was left of those resources.
However, things were not going well even before the moratoriums. In 1981, there was a Royal Commission to investigate problems in ...
Foreign Investors Illegally Buying Nova Scotia Inshore Lobster Licences, Claims CIFHF
Foreign investors are brazenly and illegally buying up Nova Scotia’s iconic lobster fishery according to the country’s national fishermen’s organization.
The Canadian Independent Fish Harvesters’ Federation (CIFHF), which represents fishermen who own and operate their own boats, says foreign interests could soon control Canada’s booming inshore fisheries if nothing is done to stop the problem.
“The government is moving too slowly to deal with this problem. We need urgent ...
Ocean Farming in 3-D
Former Newfoundlander Making Eco-Friendly Waves in the U.S.
Bren Smith would love to see his 3-D ocean farm model set up around the coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador.
It would be one piece of the puzzle in solving the province’s current economic problems, he says, and offset the decline in key commercial fishing stocks such as crab and shrimp, and the northern cod moratorium.
In fact, Smith’s vision of the future fisherman is one not chasing fish at all, but farming it.
“That ...
Royal Greenland Invests in Quin-Sea Fisheries of Canada
On Dec. 3, Royal Greenland announced its investment in Newfoundland-based seafood producer Quin-Sea Fisheries Limited.
Royal Greenland is a vertically integrated fishing, production and marketing company, which is focused on North Atlantic wild-caught fish and shellfish. With revenues of around 5 billion DKK, Royal Greenland is the largest producer in the world of coldwater prawns, Greenland halibut and lumpfish roe.
Quin-Sea Fisheries annually processes and sells more than 11,000 metric ...
P.E.I. Renews Funding For Shellfish Enhancement Program
Renewed funding for the Shellfish Enhancement Program emphasizes government’s commitment to growing our Island’s primary industries, says Prince Edward Island Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries Alan McIsaac.
“Prince Edward Island is recognized around the world for our high quality food products including our Island oysters,” McIssac said.
“It is important that we continue to support our industries to ensure the sustainability of our resource and help meet the growing demand ...
A Winter From Hell: P.E.I. Shellfish Industry Back to Full Production Following Worst Winter Ever
There is a now famous NASA photograph, taken in March of 2015, of Prince Edward Island from space.
More than 520 centimetres of snow fell on P.E.I. this winter, one of the worst in recorded history.
In the photograph, the outline of Canada’s smallest province is so completely covered in snow that its outline is barely distinguishable from the ice surrounding it.
Somewhere amongst all that, James Power was trying to reach his oyster cages, buried under more than four feet of snow, ice ...
Why Has the Shellfish Market Fallen So Hard?
U.S. shellfish, including snow crab, lobster tail, king crab and crabmeat, have all experienced some of their most rapid, and in some cases steepest, market declines in the past eight months. But shrimp, by far the largest volume shellfish item, has not seen a significant price decline. Urner Barry’s (UB) value-added shrimp index has barely moved, even while the volume of U.S. shrimp imports continue to set records. What factors made shellfish so vulnerable to a rapid correction, but ...