After a week of fishing in the Northumberland Strait, the purchase price offered for the fishermen’s catch suggests a difficult and unprofitable season for the lobster fishermen.
On August 11, lobster fishermen in Area 25 began their fishing season with apprehension due to inflation and weak demand for lobster on the American market.
A week later, the price offered for their catch seems to confirm that the season could be difficult.
With a price fluctuating between $4.50 and $5.00 per pound of lobster, lobster fishermen are struggling to break even, says the Maritime Fishermen’s Union (UPM).
“It’s really not vargeux. The break-even point is around $6, so we’re going to have a hard time doing the season like that. It is still early, it is still possible that the price will change, but as it is there, it does not look very good,” explains Luc LeBlanc, fisheries advisor at the UPM.
Stéphane Jaillet, a lobster fisherman moored at the St-Édouard wharf, near Bouctouche, said he learned on Wednesday that he would receive $4.50 a pound for his catch.
Knowing that the cost of fuel and bait has almost doubled over the past year, he confirms that the season could be difficult. Faced with this situation, he preferred to adapt and reduce his expenses.
“Last year, I fished 30 to 35 miles from the wharf, but this year, I go much less far, I fish at the end of the Bouctouche dune, 7 or 8 miles from the wharf, I have no choice. . Last season, I had three employees, but now I have just two,” he says.
Even though he has just acquired a new boat, Stéphane Jaillet predicts that he will manage to get through the season. He is especially worried about some of his colleagues who have just started their fishing business.
“I had been waiting for my boat for five years, there was a waiting list, but in 2014 I started fishing and was saving money so I didn’t have to borrow a boat. half a million to pay for it. I’ll get through this, but I know some that have payouts, I don’t believe it does (due to low prices). Some who have never fished have just paid $800,000 or $900,000 for a permit.
Difficult for the whole industry
According to Nathanaël Richard, general manager of the Maritime Lobster Processors Association, the low price offered to fishermen is explained in particular by inflation, which is reducing demand for lobster among American consumers.
“The price indicators for lobster meat and tail, the flagship products of autumn fishing, are down nearly 35% compared to the beginning of May. Mechanically, if the market is down, the price paid to fishermen will be too, there is a direct correlation between the two. As for what will happen in the coming weeks, we will see,” explains Mr. Richard.
This is quite a contrast to the 2021 season, he adds.
“We smashed all the export records last year,” recalls Mr. Richard. It was exceptional, the demand was strong and everyone in the industry benefited from it, from harvesters to processors. Today, however, we are facing a rebalancing of the market. It’s been a very long time since we’ve seen such a rapid and significant turnaround.”
Above all, we must not forget that the season promises to be difficult for all players in the industry, adds Nathanaël Richard.
“I understand the fishermen, but everyone is faced with the same dynamic, he laments. Processing plants also face much higher operating costs, whether for labour, insurance, electricity or packaging. Shipping costs have also increased significantly. The price to send a shipment of lobster by truck to the United States has doubled from one year to the next and the same for the product sent to Asia or Europe by ocean freight.”
A shortened season?
If things remain as they are, many lobster fishermen could choose to go out to sea less often in order to amortize part of their costs, predicts Luc LeBlanc.
“If each fishing trip is loss-making, there will be fewer of them,” he says. The law allows you to go out every 72 hours, so if some choose to go out every two or three days, that could be a strategy to try to limit costs and make the season profitable.
Since nearly half of lobster landings are generally made during the first two weeks of the season, Mr. LeBlanc adds that many fishermen could choose to end their season hastily if the prices offered to them do not increase. .
“Usually, we will get 40% to 50% of the catch during the first two weeks of fishing, he specifies. So there may be fishermen who will decide to pack up after the first two weeks rather than fishing until October if the prices do not change.