Lobstermen at Odds Over Shell Size
Tignish, Prince Edward Island, Canada. Market, catch volume and predictions of future conditions are driving a call to increase the minimum shell size requirement here. Some object to making changes to something that appears to be working. Fishermen’s Voice photo
Lobstermen in Prince Edward Island, Canada, province with a population of 145,000, are objecting to minimum size regulation changes that increase the length of the carapace .39 millimeters, or about 3/8 inch.
The reason, say managers and New Brunswick lobstermen who favor the change, is greater demand for the larger lobster. PEI is the source of a large percentage of the smaller, canner size lobster, sold into the global market. The province earns about $144 million Canadian from lobster. But New Brunswick lobstermen say the demand for larger lobster is driving change, and they say that will continue. The Maritime Fishermen’s Union has been lobbying for the size increase. They say the live market product is in demand. However, the majority of lobster Canada sells goes through processors, the so-called canners.
Canada catches more than half of all American lobster harvested in eastern North America. A large percentage of that harvest has been the smaller canner size. Their season is also shorter and earlier than New England. Marketing managers say the shift is the future and moving to the larger size is a requirement for going forward. The president of the New Brunswick Maritime Fishermen’s Union has said the future lies in adaptation.
Offering a canner select size was proposed. But these ideas were dashed by the PEI Fishermen’s Association. This and other political contentions are seen to be hampering the development of a business plan for a resource that has been changing rapidly in the face of a changing climate, consumer eating habits and global markets.
The U.S. has had to adjust to similar changes, such as the early summer surge of new soft shell lobster and lower prices. Maine has a fishermen-funded market development plan in place. Maine processors have been at work developing new lobster products to diversify demand.
Canadians now pay 2 cents Canadian per pound to finance the marketing of all the regions’ lobster as Canadian lobster, rather than bymthe various provinces that harvest lobster. A new product PEI’s minister says will be a big seller is a pasteurized lobster product with a 10-month shelf life. Until this and any other developments get the boat price up, lobstermen will likely remain at odds over the uncertainty of changes in the way they do business.