PORTLAND, Maine — Maine could have more jobs and add more value to its lobster industry if it processed more of its catch in-state rather than shipping it to Canada to be processed, Maine lobster processors said Friday.
Gov. Paul LePage met with lobster processors in Augusta on Friday to discuss what can done to increase the volume of lobsters processed in Maine. The meeting was spurred by protests by Canadian lobstermen who blocked truckloads of Maine lobsters from being delivered to processing plants in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.
John Hathaway, owner of Shucks Maine Lobster in Richmond, told The Associated Press that Maine processors need more marketing to draw more customers. It makes no sense, he said, for Maine’s lobster industry to send tens of millions of pounds of lobsters to Canada each year and have Canadian companies create products that are sold back in the U.S.
“That’s what I would call a foolish business model,” Hathaway said. “What we need to do is add value and jobs here.”
Maine each summer and fall ships millions of pounds of lobsters to Canada, where they’re turned into a variety of frozen and meat products that are sold for retail and foodservice markets, mostly in the U.S.
In the past week, groups of lobstermen in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island blockaded several processing plants, demanding that they not process lobster from Maine. The fishermen blame the large volume of Maine lobsters for the low prices they’ve been offered for their catch when their fishing season begins Monday.
By Wednesday, every lobster processing plant in New Brunswick had shut down operations, New Brunswick fishery officials said. Deliveries of Maine lobster have since resumed after a New Brunswick judge issued a 10-day injunction Thursday preventing fishermen from blockading the plants.
Lobster processing plants in New Brunswick resumed operations Friday, and lobster dealers in Maine said they’ve resumed shipments to Canada.
After the protests began, LePage said his administration was exploring ways to drive down energy costs and provide incentives to increase the lobster-processing capacity in Maine. Canada has more than two dozen plants, while Maine has only three of any size.
Entering the lobster-processing industry can be a challenge because of high capital costs for equipment, high energy costs and the difficulty in finding enough seasonal workers, said Linda Bean, founder and owner of Linda Bean’s Perfect Maine LLC, which has a processing plant in Rockland with 80 seasonal workers.
But the biggest obstacle is that Canadian processors can undercut Maine processors on price because they receive government assistance, she said.
Bean said she’d like to sell her products to large theme parks and cruise lines, but it’s hard to match the prices that Canadian companies can offer. She said she’d support having the federal government place on tariff on processed lobster imports from Canada.
“I’m not a protectionist, but we need protection or else we won’t be able to sell in volume,” she said.
I totally agree, Maine needs to be processing these lobstah’s, not Canada!!!!!!
Get-R_Done Mr. LePage!!!!!!
Agreed, the shrewd Gov. LePage has the unique ability to create win/win situations for everyone. The NB and ME lobster industries benefit from his foresight.
Mr. LePage does what is best for Maine… He will Get_R_Done….
It’s the same model that’s been used for years in the lumber manufacturing industry.
The reason has always been that manufacturing in Maine has been stopped in favor of overzealous environmental regulations designed to drive people in the rural parts of the state away.
Seafood processing would give those “common folk” down on the coast a way to make a living, thereby impinging upon the good life of those that moved there.
It is not only environmental issues – We have labor issues, regulatory issues, energy costs, insurance costs, taxes, and other issues that the Canadian processors do not have to deal with.
The market is there for processed lobsters the Canadian processors are selling to the same customers our processors would sell to if we had them.
I don’t care how much Maine Lobster LePage can eat, and it looks like he could put a dent in the surplus all by himself, it will take more then talking about it to fix the problem. Maine, according to LePage, has three Lobster processing facilities. Those in the know about all things Lobster claim that the problem isn’t a processing problem but rather a marketing problem. The industry does not have enough customers. The Maine Lobster Promotion Council spends around $400,000 per year marketing, promoting and providing public relations activities for the Lobster industry. That is to promote a $334 MILLION industry. It may sound like a lot of money but in the world of advertising it is a drop in the bucket. I bet there are local car dealers who spend that much just in the State of Maine. The Maine Lobster industry does not need more processors. The Maine Lobster industry needs more customers. It has been suggested that a surcharge be added to the sale of every pound of lobster to be used to promote The Maine Lobster Industry. Fat chance of that happening. Remember when Christmas Tree Farms tried the same thing. Tea Party Republicans went totally ballistic in calling it “Obama’s Tax on Christmas Trees”. Maine Lobster is acknowledged to be the best in the world. Instead of holding meetings and paying lip service to the problem get to work and promote the product and grow the customer base.
“The Maine Lobster industry does not need more processors. ”
why not?
do you relish the thought of the fruits of our citizens labor get shipped up to canada, then back down here?
Why not employ mainers to process the lobster catch?
Why does a lot of the lumber Mainer’s cut go to Canada? For the exact same idiotic reason our official Olympic outfits by Ralph Lauren were made in China- it’s cheaper to have the Canadians do it as they get mega subsidies.
Had you spent the time to read previous articles on this subject you would have seen where Maine’s current processors said that problem wasn’t the lack of processors that it was a problem of not enough people buying Maine Lobster. John Norton President and CEO of Cozy Harbor Seafood in Portland, one of the three companies that process Maine Lobster said, ““If you don’t focus on marketing, more processors in Maine is just going
to force the price
down,” Norton said. “If you want to increase the
price [fishermen are paid], then you have to increase the price people
are willing to pay for the product, and that means expanding the
market.” I am all for processing more of Maine’s Lobster in Maine and putting Mainers to work, but until more people want to buy the product there is no need for more processors. That is a simple fact of business called supply and demand. At the present time there is more supply then there is demand. Until the Maine Lobster Industry is willing to spend more money on promotion of the product adding more processing will only serve to increase the supply which will drive the prices down further.
It’s almost unfathomable that we haven’t allowed processing of lobster in this state for so long a period of time. Someone in Augusta needs to get their collective heads out of their behinds.
It’s allowed it’s just that the regulations north of the border and the government assistance make them able to compete better. There are a couple processors now, and the last processor isn’t doing well last I heard.
Then the fishermen will complain that the processors here are getting all the money just like they think the dock owners where they sell are . All that is needed are less lobsters in the ocean. The waters off Maine and Canada are overpopulated with the things at this time. There is only .15 between the dock and processors . Will .15 more per pound save the fishermen?
The Maine Promotional Council gets their money from every lobster fisherman who buys their licenses every year. Didn’t see many commercials until late this summer
$400,000 for advertising is spitting into the wind. Trying to produce and run commercials with any kind of reach with a $400,000 budget is impossible. The only strategy that makes sense with this kind of budget is a limited public relations effort with media or targeted restaurants. The bottom line: don’t hold your breath looking for a commercial.
Let’s hope that the folks who might meet with our Governor to improve the lobster industry don’t GOOGLE ‘Lepage’ before he sits down with them.
Canadian strategy: government stimulus money to help with costs
GOP strategy: hamstring government so it can’t help, beg greedy businessmen to pick up the slack and lower their taxes
Unfortunately nothing LePage does adds value to anything.
The article the other day said the two biggest hurdles in adding processing facilities were waste water treatment, which Canada doesn’t due and the Healthcare cost.
With the gov.at the helm the lobster people beware the canadians will win.The gov.seems to lean toward the folks across the border.Istead of trying to help the processors on this side of the border expand their operation
Oh, good. Gov. Lepage is getting involved. Problem solved.
This is not good news for the industry in NB.
Does Mardens sell lobster ?