Tag Archives: Chinese market

Fishers struggle as lobster ‘nearly as cheap as chocolate’

A dramatic collapse in export markets has flooded Australia with large quantities of cheap lobsters selling for as little as $35 a kilogram. At that price, fishers struggle to break even and processors are not getting enough orders to chew through the oversupply of fish, with one describing the price as “nearly as cheap as chocolate”. “I’m hearing fishermen struggling to maintain deckhands because they’re not earning enough money, fishermen talking about having to get a second job,” Mr Blake said. “It’s been very challenging.” Fishers used to sell lobsters into China for around $100 per kilogram but the industry has been locked out of that market since the outbreak of covid. >click to read< 08:04

‘Not doomsday’: Commercial fishers say crayfish season looks promising

“A glimmer of light” is how Otago-based commercial fisherman Chris Cooper describes the state of the rock lobster industry — one of the first sectors to be crippled by the Covid-19 outbreak. The Chinese market closed to all rock lobster — or crayfish — exports in late January. China took 95% to 98% of all commercial crayfish landed in New Zealand. “We basically got a Dear John letter on January 24 and told there was no market. Now the market was starting to slowly open up again and Mr Cooper was pleased to be back in business, saying prices were “looking solid”. “My gut feeling is its going to be OK,maybe like last season — not a boomer, not a doomsday either. I’ve got a feeling its going to be a solid one,”   >click to read< 17:49

US-China tariff battle takes a toll on some Alaska seafood processors, according to survey

Seafood processing businesses in Alaska are feeling the hurt from the U.S.-China tariff battle, according to the results of a survey from the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute. Fourteen Alaska seafood processors responded to the survey, and 65 percent of those reported lost sales due to tariffs in China. Half of respondents reported delays in sales, and 36 percent reported lost customers. >click to read<16:54