With a week to go before the largest commercial lobster fishery in Canada opened for its six-month season, there was cautious optimism among industry stakeholders in Southwestern Nova Scotia.
Weather permitting, lobster fishing areas (LFA) 33 and 34 were scheduled to open on Nov. 24 — the earliest the season can ever start where the last Monday in November is always the scheduled opening.
According to the JRCC-SAR season opening plan, LFA 34 was able to open two hours earlier or later on the 24th if weather was a factor, but a delay in the opening would occur if the winds exceed 26 knots or more from any direction.
On the water, the Canadian Coast Guard had a large SAR vessel stationed in the vicinity of Lobster Bay for the first three days of the season. At the Clark’s Harbour lifeboat station, two crews operating two cutters were deployed for the opening. The cutter from the Westport station was also deployed, with a second crew on standby with the FRC at the station.
In the air, a 413 Squadron Cormorant Helicopter was on 30-minute standby for dumping day, while a 413 Squadron Hercules fixed wing aircraft was on patrol over the expanses of both LFA 33 and 34.
In the Bay of Fundy, where LFAs 36 and 38 opened on Nov. 9 and LFA 35 on Oct. 14, the shore price ranged between $9 and $11 a pound going into the LFA 33/34 season opening.
“Because of the pressures on the market, there’s a lot of concerns where that price is going to start up and even where it is going to settle up,” said Kris Vascotto, executive director of the Nova Scotia Seafood Alliance.
“The other piece that we have to keep in mind is we’re looking at one of the earliest possible openings and the latest Chinese New Year (Feb. 17) that we’ve had in almost a decade which means there’s a big spread between when product is able to be brought ashore and having to hold that product for a market that has historically been very strong. This year we can’t say whether that market is going to be as strong as it has been in the past,” said Vascotto.
“At the same time, we know the economic conditions of our major trade partner to the south of us is not necessarily positive. We’re hearing and seeing indicators in the economy that are not positive and that’s going to impact people’s interest in being able to spend extra money on a premium seafood product, so there are concerns about domestic consumption in the U.S. given recent history and what is going on,” added Vascotto.
“It all contributes to this uncertainty how it will all play out. All in all, there are a lot of headwinds and we’re just going to have to deal with it.”
While a 10-day trade mission to China led by Nova Scotia Fisheries and Aquaculture Minister Kent Smith in late October/early November was “an incredibly positive mission,” said Vascotto, the 25 per cent Chinese tariff on Canadian lobsters makes it “very difficult to compete with some other suppliers like Brazilian, Vietnamese or Australian rock lobster, which creates a bit of a market gap that is challenging for us to get that price point in order to compete again. We’re looking forward and hoping to see some resolutions to those trade irritants. If that happens, we could be in for an excellent season. If that doesn’t happen, we could have some challenges.”
China is Nova Scotia’s second largest seafood market, with exports totalling $615 million in 2024. Eight Nova Scotia seafood companies exhibited at the China Fisheries and Seafood Expo: Louisbourg Seafoods Ltd., World Link Food Distributors Inc., Right Source Group Ltd., Clearwater Seafoods Ltd., Everich Import and Export Inc., Mersey Seafoods, Ship’s Lobster Pound 2005 Ltd. and Golden Alliance Canada Inc.
There is a total of 1,656 licence holders in LFA 33 and 34: 678 in LFA 33 and 978 in LFA 34. According to DFO statistics for the 2023/24 season, 447 MT of lobster were landed in LFA 33 with a landed value of $180 million. In LFA 34, 17,371 MT of lobster were landed worth $413 million wharf side. Landing statistics for the 2024/25 season are expected to be available this spring.
