The inshore commercial lobster season in most lobster fishing areas (LFAs) throughout Atlantic Canada has come to a close.
“The spring lobster season on Prince Edward Island ended much the same way it started,” said Ian MacPherson, executive director of the P.E.I. Fishermen’s Association.
For much of the season, cold and windy conditions were experienced. Some areas of LFAs 24 and 26A lost multiple days of fishing due to severe weather. This coupled with colder than normal water temperatures led to lower catches of up to 25 per cent or more in some areas,” said MacPherson.
“The presence of a North Atlantic right whale in LFA 24 near the end of the season has presented the additional challenge of moving gear or landing gear early before the official end of the spring lobster season. Although catches improved over the last few weeks of the season, it is anticipated that overall annual catch numbers will be down while other areas are reporting comparable catches to 2024. Demand for landed product was steady throughout the season given the weather challenges and lower catches experienced in some areas.”
Michael Barron, president of the Cape Breton Fish Harvesters Association, said things are going pretty good in LFA 27.
“For the most part, most areas are having a fairly good season. There are some ports that are down quite substantially as well. The weather has been pretty good in the north part of the LFA. For the most part, fishing days I think have been maximized,” he said, adding the water temperature started a touch warmer than last year but were on par with last year as the season was winding down.
As for the shore price, Barron said the season opened at $7.50/pound, went to $8 and has been holding. “Operating costs, the price has skyrocketed, you need a good shore price to be able to operate. We’re at the mercy of the markets, whether it’s the lobster market, bait market, groundfish market. It’s a slippery slope you play every year within our industry.”
Geoff Irvine, executive director of the Lobster Council of Canada, said spring landings started very slow due to cold water and bad weather but picked up nicely through June in all areas with some exceptions.
“We do, however, expect a 10 to 15 per cent drop in overall landings year over year, which combined with the China tariffs and uncertainty from the U.S. meant slightly lower shore prices to harvesters and lower market prices than last year for live and processed lobster,” said Irvine.
“Exporters, governments and organizations like ours are focusing on market development activities with trade shows planned this fall in Singapore, Spain and China and back-to-back missions to Japan and South Korea. We are working on our annual Export Café mission for February of 2026 where we will return to Europe and likely visit Germany, the U.K. and the Benelux region. We will continue to work with our colleagues in the U.S.A. and will be holding the annual U.S./Canada Lobster Town Meeting in Moncton, N.B. on January 21–23, 2026. We are working with the federal government as they continue to negotiate with China to drop the current tariffs on Canadian lobster (32 per cent) and negotiate a trade agreement with the United States,” said Irvine.
Only LFAs 15, 16 and 17 in waters around Québec and Anticosti Island are open into early August (Aug. 12, 10 and 5 respectfully). On P.E.I., LFA 25 opens on Aug. 9 and runs until Oct. 10.
