Tag Archives: catch is down
Lobster dealers hope for a fall surge
This year, boat prices are high, but the catch is down, dealers say. Supply is meeting demand, but the demand is lower than last year. While at least one local seafood retailer had a great summer, wholesale dealers’ reports are unenthusiastic. Both lobstermen and dealers are keeping fingers crossed for a big fall surge in catch. With the state’s commercial fishery granted a six-year reprieve in December from new federal regulations that many industry voices said would decimate the fishery, the 2023 season has focused on traditional concerns, such as supply, demand, prices and bait. “The price is up but the catch is down, and we’ve had horrible weather,” said Susan Soper, general manager of Winter Harbor Lobster Co-op. “Our retail sales were almost 60 percent down.”>>click to read<< 13:03
Pandemic, labor , product shortages, and supply chain issues disrupt Dungeness Crab market
Seafood distributors, sellers and processors point to a number of factors that converged to create a perfect storm: the coronavirus pandemic, labor shortages, product shortages, supply chain issues and market demands. All have contributed to drive prices up from the usual $25 or so per pound to as much as $52. This season was difficult for many in the industry. It opened late and yielded a mere 12 million pounds to date, compared to last year’s 20 million. On average, commercial crabbers land around 16 million pounds in Oregon, though the fishery can be cyclical, with boom and bust periods. >click to read< 19:13
Lobster catches taking nose dive in southern Nova Scotia
Ashton Spinney, co-chair of the Lobster Advisory Committee for Lobster Fishing Area 34, says only half as many lobsters as usual are being brought ashore this spring. “The water temperature is cold. It hasn’t warmed up. And the lobsters aren’t crawling into the traps,” said Spinney in an interview Friday. With fuel, bait and salaries for deckhands climbing with inflation in recent years, the paucity of lobsters this spring is leaving many fishers wondering if they’ll even be able to break even before the fishery ends on May 31. “There are some that are finding it hard,” said Spinney. “Those that fished 50 miles out last year and would stay out there, this year they’re not finding enough lobsters to stay out there. So they’re coming in close to the shore, hoping to find some lobsters.” The longtime lobster fisherman says it’s just as bad in Lobster Fishing Area 33. click here to read the story 11:24
2015 mullet season catch is down drastically
Like a lot of Floridians weary of warm weather, the local fishing industry is praying for a little cool. But for the people who catch them, the businesses that sell them and for those planning to expand Southwest Florida’s mullet fishery into a sustainable industry, the record-setting warm winter is a much bigger issue than not being able to wear a favorite sweater or trade sandals for boots. This time last year, the A.P. Bell Fish Co. in Cortez was awash in the collective catch of striped mullet, with president Karen Bell ordering more ice to keep the fish fresh and wondering what she was going to do with them all. Read the article here 18:26
