High lobster catch nets better price as risks are foreseen

Good catches, fair seas and a better price have greeted New Brunswick lobster fishermen during the first two weeks of their season. However, prices are still down significantly from two years ago, and fishermen know that catches cannot continue increasing every year.

Stuart McKay, manager of Paturel International's operations on Deer Island, says, "On average it's been a pretty decent season for most." Some boats around Grand Manan are reporting their best year ever, and Dana Richardson of Island Shellfish Ltd. of Deer Island says some boats "had the biggest first-day catches they ever experienced." According to McKay and Richardson, catches around Deer Island and Campobello have been better than last year, especially around inshore areas. From Blacks Harbour to Lepreau, the catches have been average, but they've been poorer in the Saint John area. Overall, Grand Manan catches have been about average.

The weather also has been excellent, with fishermen able to haul every day since the season opened on November 10. Most years they would have to sit out a few days because of high winds.

The boat price has been in the range of $3.50 to $4 (Canadian) a pound, which is a little better than the price at the start of the season last year. The price collapse last year, which was a $2 drop from the price two years before that, had shaken fishermen's confidence in the fishery.

The exchange rate with U.S. funds, though, is off about 10 cents from last year, McKay reports, with the U.S. dollar now worth about $1.04 Canadian, while it had been around $1.14.

With the recession, consumers and restaurants were not buying lobsters last year, and "a lot of product" was frozen, says McKay. This year there is "a little more market," he says, but it's sensitive to the price. "In the live trade we found there is a sweet spot that the European market will buy at." The Europeans have been importing lobsters from Maine, which are less expensive, and McKay says, "We're trying to get Canadian product in with the Maine product. A $3.50 boat price allows us to get some Canadian product in there." Paturel International ships lobsters "all over the world," to Europe, the U.S. and Asia. The company handles about 8 million pounds a year for air-freight shipment of live lobsters and about 4 million pounds of frozen lobsters.

Fisherman Laurence Cook of Seal Cove, Grand Manan, the chairman of the Lobster Sector of the Grand Manan Fishermen's Association, says he's been receiving $3.90 a pound, which he calls "a half-fair price. It's a help, but it's not a good price for a lobster." He believes the minimum price should be around $5, in order for fishermen to feel secure in meeting all their expenses.

Once the catches begin to drop off, fishermen won't haul as frequently, since they need a certain number of lobsters to pay their costs. Last year fishermen took their traps in early during January around Grand Manan, and Cook expects they will haul them in early this year, too.

"I know a lot of people had financial issues," Cook says of the pressures on fishermen caused by the drop in price. He's aware of some bankruptcies and seizures of homes or vehicles belonging to fishermen who had loans. Fishermen, though, have a hard time getting out of the fishery, since they can't sell their boats or licenses to anyone now.

"It's a stress on all people in a recession," McKay points out. "It's hard on the fishermen and the buyers. We all do what we have to do to survive it."

Cook notes that the New Brunswick Fisheries and Aquaculture Development Board has been very good in working with fishermen who have loans, but he says that the $15 million in assistance offered by the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans' Short-Term Transitional Measures Program has not been of any use. "That money is of no help to anyone in the Bay of Fundy," he says. Fishermen cannot take advantage of those funds if their gross landings for the year are worth over $50,000. He says the assistance was set up for fishermen who only fish 10 to 12 weeks a year in small boats. Although $50,000 may seem like quite a large amount of money, Cook points out that fishermen's costs are high. Bait can be $8,000, fuel another $20,000, with the crew paid $15,000.

Although Cook is optimistic about the lobster resource, he says, "The economics are a bit sketchy right now." If there is any drop in the number of lobsters caught, "it would become critical," he states, adding, "If you cut the current catch in half it's over."

He expects that the catches will drop at some point. The average boat on Grand Manan is catching well over twice as many lobsters as the 50-year average catch.