PORTLAND, Maine — Six to eight lobster processing plants in Atlantic Canada stopped processing operations Tuesday as fishermen expanded their protests demanding that the plants not accept low-priced Maine lobster, officials said.
Lobstermen last week blocked trucks from delivering lobsters to plants in Shediac and Cap-Pele, New Brunswick. The blockades have raised fears among lobster dealers in Maine who ship tens of millions of pounds to Canadian processors each year.
Fishermen on Tuesday blockaded more processing plants, claiming the low price of Maine lobster is driving down the price of Canadian lobster. By late Tuesday, four to six processors in New Brunswick and at least two in Prince Edward Island had agreed to suspend operations for at least two days, said Maine Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher.
As a result, Maine lobster dealers are scrambling to find processors elsewhere in Canada who will take their product. Dealers are also having to slow down their lobster purchases from lobstermen, potentially creating even more of a glut of lobster and driving down prices even more, he said.
“It’s too soon to call it a crisis, but it’s a serious situation,” Keliher told The Associated Press. “Right now, from my perspective, it’s potentially going to get worse.”
Canadian lobstermen say the low price of Maine lobsters is driving down the price they’ll get for their catch when their seasons open. Videos and photos show large groups of protesting Canadian lobstermen dumping Maine lobsters in the street and holding signs saying things like, “No More U.S. Lobster.”
A deal reached last week between New Brunswick Fisheries Minister Michael Olscamp, processing plants and the Maritime Fishermen’s Union called for New Brunswick lobstermen to be paid at least $2.50 a pound for lobster that was going to be processed, and $3 a pound for product for the live market.
But fishermen told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. that they need at least $4 a pound when their season opens. Olscamp did not return calls on Tuesday.
Canada’s federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans announced Tuesday that the start of the lobster-fishing season in southeastern New Brunswick was pushed back four days, until Monday, at the request of fishermen’s associations.
In Maine, state officials and lobster dealers are concerned the blockades will back up lobster supplies on the U.S. side of the border, creating even more of an oversupply that already has driven down prices to 20-year lows.
One dealer along Maine’s mid-coast said he cancelled a delivery of lobsters to a Canadian processor scheduled for Tuesday night out of concern for the driver’s safety and fear that the load would be lost. The dealer, who didn’t want to be named because of the sensitivity of the situation, said it appears that “mob rule” has taken over in New Brunswick.
Maine Gov. Paul LePage said he’s been working with New Brunswick Premier David Alward seeking a solution.
“I conveyed my concerns about the effects this could have on Maine’s fishing industry, which provides a mutual benefit for both countries,” LePage said in a statement.
It’s estimated that more than half of Maine’s annual harvest — last year’s catch topped 100 million pounds — is shipped to Canadian processors who turn the whole lobsters into meat and frozen products. There are about two dozen processors in Canada, while Maine has only three processing plants of any size.
Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans said Fisheries Minister Keith Ashfield is monitoring the situation and is prepared to make changes to fisheries management practices that fall under federal jurisdiction if needed.
Fishermen in Maine have been receiving as little as $2 a pound for their catch because of a glut brought on by a strong early season harvest.
Consumer prices have fallen as well, with some retailers in the Portland area selling small, soft-shell lobsters for under $4 a pound. Larger and hard-shell varieties sell for higher prices.
If the last administration could get the wind power industry established quickly in Maine, I see no reason why the current administration can’t take similar steps to help a few processors get set up in Maine. There is no reason for a Maine product to be sent across the border only to be bought and sold back to the US market.
i lost a job to canadian imports at the chip and saw mill in Baileyville. The Canadians flooded the market with lumber that was produced with a subsidy from the province. I used to count trucks coming across the border at calais for our nafta certificate. It was astounding the number of trucks that came across. Lets blockade the new bridge here in Calais. See how they like that!!
Lesson: never let your mouse wander while reading. I did not mean to give my approval to your post. Lobstermen and processing workers on both sides of the border are on the same side, are they not?
If there is any demonstration on the U.S. side, would it not better serve the cause to have signs proclaiming, “We are in agreement.” “Process U.S. goods in the U.S.” ” Canadian goods in Canada.”
If we could tithe even a few dollars to the renewal of U.S. goods and factories, I don’t know if that would solve the problem which seems to be both governmental and corporate. Turning worker against worker is an old trick that works extremely well. We don’t have to give them that piece, too.
Canadians also flood the market every year with cheap wreaths.
It is not the Canadian people who are at fault for any market-flooding. Don’t you think it is the manner in which government and business is conducted that is at the root of such practices.
Better to ask why the U.S. market is flooded, and then take steps to change that – even small ones, yes? Better to ask Governor LePage for the rationale as to why Maine’s fishing industry, should provide, “a mutual benefit for both countries.”
Sure it’s better to ask, but you can’t expect an honest or acurate ansewer. The deck is stacked against the American worker. How can you compete with foriegn subsidized labor,or rock bottom wages. Where is America’s gain from NAFTA . What are we getting from Mexico? from Canada? I can’t find much.
Mine was an empty comment. I should have restated the importance of focusing on the larger issue, and not attacking an entire population, as in “Canadians,” rather than the governmental, political, and corporate forces that are at the root of the problem.
If Maine needs businesses, why not start lobster processing plants here. Like everything else, our products don’t get manufactured/processed here to yield jobs to US citizens. When manufacturing was shipped out to every other country, especially China, our economy suffered and will never recover.
Because you can’t get anything built in this state without someone trying to stop it.
You are so right. Whenever someone wants to get it done, the code enforcement, environmentalists, people who have no clue, and just about every government regulation nixes it.
Lets protest ALL stuff coming out of canada…then when they are hurting for money or need a place to sell their products….we will remind them of the lobster situation!!!…..further more they shouldn’t have blamed the lobstermen here in Maine or the truckers bringing them in,when its there own plants saying its ok to bring them in…..Blame Your Own,First!!!
Come to Fort Kent and see how many trucks go to Canada with logs on them and then watch the train loaded with finished lumber heading south to the major markets. Where are the blowhards in Washington? They can work together on Olympic bonus exemptions but they can’t work together on the country’s financial problems. We need to start producing more of our own products. Irving wants to sell here then he needs to produce here. Wake up Augusta and Washington.
Agreed, Lionel. 100%.
“There are about two dozen processors in Canada, while Maine has only three processing plants of any size.”
Seems pretty simple to me. Open more processing plants down here where they belong.
I’m a lobster fisherman in canada and its not that we dont want USA lobster but we have 8 weeks to fish and make money not ten months .
We only have 250 traps not 800 and we catch 12000 to 16000 pounds a year whith $35K to $40K in expenses, $ 4.50 gallon for fuel and 1.00 lbs for bait. At $2.50/pounds please do the math.
I’m a lobster fisherman in canada and its not that we dont want USA lobster but we have 8 weeks to fish and make money not ten months .We only have 250 traps not 800 and we catch 12000 to 16000 pounds a year whith $35K to $40K in expenses, $ 4.50 gallon for fuel and 1.00 lbs for bait. At $2.50/pounds please do the math.