International lobster trade picking up
©© FAO/Vasily Maksimov
After a couple of years with slow trade because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the international lobster trade is now picking up again. Canada’s dominance of the trade is becoming even stronger. The country accounted for almost 58 percent of world exports during the first quarter of 2023. However, supplies might be a problem. Adverse weather conditions and restrictions on lobster gear might reduce catches.
Supplies
Aquaculture may be one way to improve supplies, and Nueva Pescanova is starting operations of its first octopus farm on Gran Canaria island in Spain this spring, but protesters are lining up to try and stop it. According to the protesters, there are environmental risks, but there is also risk of making the animals suffer. And they are even warning against “the murder” of octopus, which are claimed to be highly intelligent animals. Swedish animal protection organization Djurens Rätt (“Animal Rights”) is calling on the EU Commission to ban octopus farming in the European Union “to stop the great sufferings”.
The battle over the Maine lobster fishery and the protection of the North Atlantic right whales has been going on for years. In June, the US District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled in favour of the Maine lobster fishermen and expressed that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) had gone too far in its analysis of the lobster industry’s potential harm to the right whale (Eubalaena glacialis), which is considered to be critically endangered. A number of measures to protect the right whale have been imposed on the fishermen, especially to avoid the whales getting entangled in the ropes to the traps. But NMFS has pronounced that, while ropeless fishing technologies, weak links, inserts and trawls have been used, none of these seem to work properly, and that the only solution would be a permanent closure of the fishery. However, the court found that this would result in great physical and human capital destruction and thousands of jobs lost.
While hurricane Fiona caused major damage to the equipment for the lobster harvesters in the Caribbean region, the lobster population itself was not much affected. Although buildings were blown away and traps were lost, the lobsters in the sea seemed to be relatively safe from the destructive weather.
Canada’s lobster fishing area (LFA) 26, which includes the south coast of Prince Edward Island, opened its season earlier than normal in an effort to finish earlier and thereby not take lobsters while they were in the middle of reproducing and molting.
The lobster season in Canada’s lobster fishing area 23 in the Gulf of St. Lawrence ended on 30 June, but the result was one of the worst in recent years. A combination of cold weather, storms, seals, and zone closures due to sightings of the endangered right whale all contributed to lower landings. Bad weather kept lobstermen in port for days, and the colder waters made lobsters go to deeper water further offshore.
The spiny lobster season in the Bahamas ended on 31 March, but with a miserable result. Catches were good but ex-vessel prices were down by 50 percent compared to 2022. Last year, ex-vessel prices averaged about USD 20 per pound, but in 2023 prices had dropped to about USD 10 per pound.
The Florida spiny lobster season, which started in the beginning of August 2022, closed at the end of March 2023. In spite of problems caused by the hurricane, which scattered lobster traps and caused equipment losses, the season was a good one. Florida lobster harvesters landed 5.4 million pounds (2 450 tonnes) of spiny lobster (Panulirus argus), which was about 2 percent more than in the previous season. But prices were lower, so the value of this catch amounted to USD 42.1 million, or 12 percent less compared to last season. The average landing price was USD 7.80 per pound, compared to USD 8.84 in the 2021-2022 season.
Markets
Mother’s Day is celebrated in many countries on the second Sunday of May. In North America it is an opportunity for sellers of live lobster. This year, Mother’s Day was 14 May, which gave sellers and buyers of live lobster a little longer time than usual. But landings in Canada were not great during the early season, and thus availability was tighter. Consequently, prices for live lobster were high.
Wholesale prices for live lobster peaked in December, but were declining at the beginning of the year. Processors did not buy lobsters because of the high prices, and this pushed prices further down.
There was an on-going dispute between lobster harvesters and processors over prices in April and into May. The harvesters refused to accept the low prices offered by the processors, but then, at the very end of April, an agreement was reached, and processors could start taking delivery of lobsters for processing.
International trade
World exports of lobsters increased by 20.6 percent during the first quarter of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022. Canadian exports increased by 22.8 percent, and Canada accounted for 57.7 percent of total exports.
Canada’s dominance in the international lobster trade is becoming stronger. In the first quarter of 2023, Canada accounted for 58.0 percent of China’s lobster imports, 78.3 percent of US lobster imports, and 26.3 percent of lobster imports of the European Union. In 2022, the corresponding figures were: Canada’s share of world exports: 56.7 percent, of China’s imports: 49.4 percent, of US imports: 76.9 percent, and of EU’s imports: 25.3 percent.
US exports of live, fresh lobsters to China have been increasing noticeably during the first quarter of the year. In January, the United States of America exported some 1 076 tonnes of live, fresh lobster worth USD 22 million to China. This was an increase of 76 percent by volume and 80 percent by value compared to January 2022. The good trend continued in February and March. US lobster exports to China increased by 16 percent during the first quarter, to 2 530 tonnes. However, the export price to China has been on a declining trend since it peaked in early 2022.
Outlook
It looks like the supply situation may remain tight for some time. Catches in Canada have been lower than expected. Supplies of spiny lobsters from the Caribbean have been good, while landings in Florida have been excellent.
Prices are expected to remain relatively high for live lobster, but production of frozen tails and “quarters” is uncertain because of the price dispute between harvesters and processors.
Lobster is a luxury item, and sensitive to the general economic development. In Europe, the outlook is therefore not very good because most of Europe is hit by strongly increasing costs of just about everything, especially food and energy. Consequently, European demand for lobsters may be negatively affected. The demand situation in China is also somewhat uncertain.