Tag Archives: U.S. market

P.E.I.’s fall lobster fishery coping with low prices and high costs

One week after the fall lobster season opened on Prince Edward Island, some fishers are worried. Prices are at least $2 to $3 less a pound than they were just a few months ago, in some cases as low as half of what they were in the spring lobster fishery. “The most common price in the last few days is in the $4.75 to $5 range,” said Charlie McGeoghegan, who chairs the Lobster P.E.I. board. McGeoghegan said the problem of low lobster prices is compounded by the high cost of putting a boat in the water these days. “The price of fuel hasn’t gone down much,,, Jerry Gavin, executive director of the P.E.I. Seafood Processors Association, says there’s still a lot of lobster meat in storage from the spring fishery. “There’s a lot of meat in inventory and that certainly wasn’t the case last year, so yes, it’s going to be a tougher fall for fishers. >click to read<  13:48

Snow crab prices plummet in Newfoundland

It wasn’t the news fish harvesters in Newfoundland and Labrador wanted to hear. They’ll get less for their snow crab after today, as the result of a decision by the province’s fish price setting panel. After reviewing a request from the Association of Seafood Producers and arguments by the Fish Food and Allied Workers, the panel went with the processors’ pitch of $6.15 per pound. That’s down nearly 20 per cent from the $7.60 per pound price that was set for the start of the season on April 1. In Nova Scotia, fish harvesters also saw a drop in snow crab prices a couple of weeks ago. They are now getting $8.25 a pound for snow crab, according to Gordon Beaton, local president with the Maritime Fishermen’s Union.  >click to read<  11:06