Stonington lobster boat races July 9, 2017. Deven Haskell’s Hooligan taking 2nd place in the Diesel Class F 336 to 435HP. Hooligan is a Young Bros. build from a mold taken off an Osmond Beal designed and built wooden boat. It’s Jonesport roots are apparent. Haskell runs a Cummins 5.9 liter QSB, 380HP engine. Fishermen’s Voice photo. Fishermen’s Voice photo
Global Lobster Trade
Watch Out for Surprises
by Laurie Schreiber
PORTLAND—The extent of trade for American lobster on the global market might be underreported. And that could result in implications for providers, like Maine, in the event of a crash.
Joshua Stoll, an assistant research professor of marine policy at the University of Maine, discussed the topic at the 11th International Conference on Lobster Biology and Management, hosted in Portland from June 4-9 by the University of Maine and Boston University.
Stoll said he has undertaken a study of global trade routes for seafood—coming from both the wild fisheries and aquaculture—which found that complex trade routes might be masking the depth of dependency between harvesters and markets.
According to Stoll’s abstract, the seafood trade has become increasingly globalized due to advancements in technology and improved logistical capacity. The distribution of seafood around the world creates employment opportunities, generates wealth, and increases market access. However, globalization also decouples markets from marine resources and harvesters, whereby making seafood-producing countries vulnerable to outside disturbances in distant places. The structure of global seafood trade routes can play a key role in this decoupling process by masking the dependencies of producer-nations on particular markets. Stoll’s study traces the complex trade routes used to globally distribute lobster and, in particular, quantifies the secondary trade of lobster between non-producer nations and the role these trade relationships play in obfuscating the growing dependency on China’s market.
Speaking at the conference, Stoll said the study stems from recent data that the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, which show that 40 percent of all seafood is traded across international boundaries. That 40 percent is a 515 percent increase since 1970s.
The finding could have implications for commercial fishermen and their communities, he said.
The impact of international trade can be seen in price dips for lobster, he said. Significant price drops took place in 2001, 2007-2008, and 2011-2012.
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