Lobster fishermen start season with catches, price up

Following a three-day delay in the opening of the lobster season in southwest New Brunswick, fishermen were greeted with strong catches and an increase in the price. High winds had delayed the opening from November 9 to 12.
Stuart McKay, manager of Paturel International's operations on Deer Island, reports, "On Grand Manan the catch has been very good. The quality is about average C a little soft. Around Deer Island it's about the same as last year, and the quality is very good. Along the mainland, some places are up a bit and some a down a bit, and the quality is very good."
Jeff Ingalls of Five Reasons Fisheries on Grand Manan says catches around the island are up perhaps 15% to 20%, although he adds, "It could quit tomorrow."
Dana Richardson of Island Shellfish Ltd. of Deer Island comments, "We've had a high catch here for quite a few years, and this year will be up there."
The price paid to fishermen is up some this year C good news for fishermen who have been suffering from the dramatic drop in price two years ago. McKay observes, "The price is recovering some. As people predicted, it's slow and steady. It will go hand in hand with how the economy recovers and how people will spend their money."
Ingalls says the price has increased some 15% to 20% this year. "It's starting to pick its way back up. I don't think it will drop any." He notes that, if catches are up in Nova Scotia when the season opens on November 29 for much of that province, then the price won't get any better.
Last year the price at the start of the season was in the range of $3.50 to $4 (Canadian) a pound. This year Paturel is paying $4.25 a pound, and Island Shellfish is paying fishermen $4.75 for lobsters with a carapace under 5" in length and $3.75 for those over that size. Island Shellfish deals only with the live market.
Richardson notes that some buyers believe the price has increased because there is a shortage of crabs that are processed, and lobsters are filling that gap, creating more of a demand. He says that the price for crabs in Newfoundland is down, so some fishermen didn't fish for them.
Richardson and McKay, though, both say the market for live lobsters doesn't seem that strong. McKay reports that the market for frozen lobsters is better this year, with the demand from restaurants that sell lobster tails being moderately brisk, although the price is fairly low. He observes that restaurants have to reduce their menu items and target a middle price range of $13 to $15, so lobster buyers have to price what they pay to fishermen accordingly.
Paturel ships 60% of its live lobsters to Europe, 20% to Asia and 20% to the U.S. and Canada. For frozen lobsters, 80% is shipped to North American markets and 20% goes to Europe and Asia.
All of the buyers agree that the change in the exchange rate, with the U.S. and Canadian dollars now nearly at par, has hurt significantly. "It ends up hurting everybody. It gets passed back to the fishermen," says McKay, adding, "We all share the pain."
Jeff Ingalls observes, "Six years ago it was 55%. Now it's the same. It's tough." Five Reasons Fisheries ships 90% of its product into the U.S. live market. "It makes it better to travel, but it hurts us in sales C lobsters, scallops, everything."
Richardson adds, "If there was a 50-cent difference on the money it would all go to the boat."
As for the three-day delay in the opening of the season because of strong winds, McKay says, "From a market point of view, there were enough lobsters that were landed to cover the needs of the industry." He says the delay didn't affect fishermen much, as the catch has been as good as last year or a bit better. Ingalls says, "I don't think the fishermen missed a lot. Catches are good and the price is up, so fishermen are happier."