Decent landings, good quality and a strong shore price was the word on the wharf after the commercial lobster season in lobster fishing area (LFA) 35 opened on Oct. 14.
“The price is $10 to $10.50 but could change today,” said Lockeport lobster buyer Mike Cotter on Oct. 20.
Cotter said LFA 35 fishermen fishing the deeper waters in the Bay of Fundy seem to be catching more than the inside boats. “Everything we’ve seen so far has been good. Decent landings, good quality and a good price.”
LFA 35 fisherman Chris Hersey, who is co-chair of the LFA 35 lobster advisory committee, said for the first week of the season, landings were down a little bit for him compared to last season. “The quality wasn’t the greatest the first haul, but it’s starting to get a little better now,” said Hersey.
Hersey said fishermen have been finding a lot of juvenile lobsters in the catch as well as a few seeders. “We usually see seeders in the spring but I noticed quite a few today,” he said.
While the shore price is lower than last year’s opening price, which was in the $11 to $12 range, Hersey said considering everything going on with markets and the Chinese tariff, “I guess it’s not that bad.”
Usually, the opening price in LFA 35 is slightly higher than the opening price in LFA 33/34, where the season is scheduled to open on Nov. 24.
Tommy Amirault, president of the Coldwater Lobster Association, said LFA 34 fishermen are hoping for at least $10 a pound to start the season.
Fishermen “use $10 as a number that they base everything off of, traps, fuel, insurance, supplies, everything, so I think if it’s $11 or $12, they see that as a little better. Anything under $10 I think they’re going to try and hold or wait hoping for $10,” said Amirault.
Last season in LFA 34, Jonah crabs were a major problem for some fishers at the start of the season, negatively impacting the catch, recalled Amirault, adding landings in the spring weren’t that great either for some people.
Colder than normal water temperatures observed by fishermen the last few years seems to be a trend, said Amirault.
“That’s a little worrying. We’re on a bit of a downturn here. Hopefully things can get turned around and the price is something we can work with. The catch, there’s not much we can do about that except hope for the best. Hopefully it will work for us,” said Amirault.
Market-wise, going into the fall and winter lobster seasons, there is a major difference between the live and frozen markets as usual, said Geoff Irvine, executive director of the Lobster Council of Canada.
“Tariff uncertainty from the U.S.A. and continued tariffs from China will impact shore and market pricing this fall with everyone hoping for tariff relief, a quick conclusion to the CUSMA negotiations and a return to predictability in world trade,” said Irvine.
“Demand in the United States for live lobster, cooked lobster meat and small tails has been the driver for Canadian lobster in general in 2025. Frozen exports to the U.S.A. are up 19.5 per cent year over year and live shipments are up as well,” said Irvine.
“Despite tariff threats, there are no tariffs in place with the U.S.A. for seafood and demand has been strong in many key parts of the U.S. market. Foodservice and retail demand have bounced back after recession fears during the winter abated and have returned to 2024 levels, which has been good for Canadian lobster. The Maine catch is also down again which adds to demand for Canadian lobster. The downside in frozen has been larger tails which has seen price drops due to weak demand and whole in-shell cooked and raw that was produced for China and has not been purchased yet due to tariff demand,” said Irvine.
“The live market has been hammered by Chinese tariffs with exports by value down almost 50 per cent for year-to-date 2025. We have seen an uptick in exports to the E.U. and the U.S.A. which has been helpful, and much more live lobster has gone into processing to support demand for those products. Live shippers much prefer higher margin sales to China and other live markets, rather than the price required to process the product,” Irvine said.
There is a total of 1,656 licence holders in LFA 33 and 34: 678 in LFA 33 and 978 in LFA 34.
The commercial lobster fishery was also scheduled to open on Nov. 11 for LFAs 36 and 38 in the Bay of Fundy.
