The lobster market has been through a tumultuous period since the report in the August CFN. At that time, there was a substantial catch of shedders and boat prices had dropped to 30-year lows. Canadian processors, typically the largest market for softshells, had not yet started buying US lobsters and supply was overwhelming demand. By the third week in July, though, some of the backup was easing as Canadian processors came into the market and daily truckloads of shedders headed north to New Brunswick.
But on Aug. 2-3, the calm was broken. New Brunswick fishermen from Lobster Fishing Area (LFA) 25 surrounded a number of New Brunswick seafood processing plants, blockading entrances, protesting low lobster prices, and the purchase of “cheap” lobsters coming from Maine. Most New Brunswick plants closed due to those protests, reported a Nova Scotia lobster processor.
Read the rest and much, much more in the September issue of Commercial Fisheries News.
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