P.E.I. fishermen ‘confused and frustrated’ by sliding lobster prices
The P.E.I. Fisherman’s Association is raising concerns over spring season lobster prices. In a statement issued Friday morning, the association says, “Harvesters of Prince Edward Island are experiencing a season that is both confusing and frustrating in terms of the price being paid to harvesters at the wharf.”
The association says five retail operations on P.E.I. show live prices charged to consumers are up to double what fishermen are being paid at the wharf, and those prices are comparable to what fishermen were getting in 2002. Back then, prices were averaging around $5.35 a pound. As prices differ slightly from buyer to buyer and port to port, the PEIFA has no official price to report this spring.
Prices, however, are said to have slipped into the range of $5 a pound for canners and $5.50 a pound for markets, a drop of more than a dollar a pound from last year.
P.E.I. fishermen have also been dealing with a cool and windy spring. Catches are said to be down significantly in southern P.E.I. while running close to par in other areas. Meanwhile, the quality of lobster has improved with upgraded onboard storage equipment and the U.S. exchange rate is favourable for exports. The association also notes that live holding capacity in P.E.I. has increased by 80 per cent since 2013 and steady consumer demand in a number of countries along with a 30-million-pound reduction in Maine landings in 2017 have contributed to low product inventories.
“The current trends that are developing in 2018 are a concern to harvesters, and to date, no reasonable explanations have been provided as to the price decreases,” states the PEIFA. “All sectors of the supply chain require a fair return on capital.”
The association says the harvesting sector on P.E.I. is spending more than $300,000 annually to promote P.E.I. lobster.
“It is now time for the other sectors of the lobster industry to assist in stemming the current tide of decreasing price,” the association challenges. “The lobster industry and the economies of Atlantic Canada can ill afford to return to the boom and bust cycles of the past.”
The association says it conservatively estimates the price differential will mean a $60-million decrease in direct spending in the Island economy.