SOURIS Opening day of the 2007 lobster season was poor all around for Prince Edward Island fishermen, who saw the lowest catches in years due to terrible weather conditions and prices that are even worse.
Water temperatures six or seven degrees colder than last year, coupled with several days of an easterly wind, have brought lobsters to a standstill on the ocean bottom and left traps empty on the first day of the season.
Southside fishers averaged 200 pounds for the first days catch, down from 800 to 1,000 pounds the first day last year.
On the north side, things were just as bad, with average catches in the 500-pound range, down from about 2,000 last year. This is a decline of three to four times on both sides of the Island.
But worse than the catch numbers are the prices offered by the main movers and shakers in the processing industry. Despite a lack of lobster up and down the East Coast of North America, Ocean Choice was paying $5 for canner-sized lobster, $5.25 for banded canners and $6 for larger sized markets.
Unbelievable, said Souris fisherman David Lapierre when he heard what Ocean Choice was offering.
Thats only 75 cents higher than we were getting 10 years ago, he said. It was $4.25 in 1997, and todays price of fuel and bait has tripled since then.
According to fishermen, these rock bottom prices are so far from what todays high demand market conditions indicate that they are furious.
And, as usual, they say they are left over a barrel when it comes to doing anything about it.
Morell fisherman Kenny Drake is president of the Eastern Kings Fishermens Association. He said this is price fixing without a doubt.
There is no other explanation for it. When a group of people get together and decide a price based on nothing, thats price fixing.
He said there is nothing legal fishermen can do about it because they cant get outside buyers to come on to the wharf they need a 30-day period to be licensed.
At this stage of the game the only thing we can do is find another buyer and truck our fish up the road away the wharf, he said. This cant be any more illegal than it is for the processors to set prices based on nothing.
Souris fisherman Ricky Jennings wants to know what the difference is between a market lobster in Souris, P.E.I., and one in Nova Scotia or New Brunswick.
Today (Tuesday) in southwest Nova Scotia, they were getting $8 a pound and we are getting $6, he said. Maybe we should be looking for a lobster marketing board here and put an end to this price fixing.
P.E.I. lobster season opens with low catches, lower prices
P.E.I. lobster season opens with low catches, lower prices
- Published on May 2nd, 2007
- Published on June 14th, 2010
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Nancy Willis
Cold water temperatures, early wind bring lobster to standstill on bottom; priced being offered leave Island fishers angry and frustrated
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Comments
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- Bob
- - June 21st, 2010 at 20:38:15
Why not blame the seals. We know they don't eat lobster but heck, they are the fall guys for all the fishing industry on the East Coast. Pretty soon, no doubt they will be all gone too.
Over fishing and over killing is destroying everything. Look at what happened to Long Island Sound. -
- Bob
- - June 21st, 2010 at 20:36:36
Personally, I think lobster fishermen have things pretty darn good considering the majority only work for 8 weeks a year and then depend on the rest of Canadians to pay into EI so they can rest on their laurels or work for cash for the remaining 48 weeks. That's frankly quite ridiculous when one considers all of the new half tons, snowmobiles, 4-wheelers and homes these poor , unfortunate fishermen have to deal with. Frankly I'm tied of hearing the loud CRIES from the fishermen; it's been like this for decades, it is great money, too much for the work that's done to be honest. If it's so bad then sell your fleet, get out of it and stop complaining all the bloody time, people are getting tired of hearing about it!
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- unhappy
- - June 21st, 2010 at 20:33:43
I can't believe Binns is screwing up the lobster season too. Is there anything he won't ruin?
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- Jim
- - June 21st, 2010 at 20:28:16
I live 12 miles from Disney World. The local stores here are asking $25.00lb U.S., for chicken lobsters. Just two or three months ago they were $12-14lb. A restaurant in my coastal hometown of Swansea, Massachusetts has been charging up to $75.00 for a 3 1/2lb baked stuffed lobster for years. The prices here in Florida are beyond belief. By the way, red bell peppers are $4lb. What gives?
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- Islander
- - June 21st, 2010 at 20:27:19
All Blaine Sullivan and Ocean Choice's fault
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- Islander
- - June 21st, 2010 at 20:19:06
Bob Radley is lazy...
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- meg
- - June 21st, 2010 at 20:16:13
If markets in the US are charging $19.00 a pound seems like somebody besides the men and women risking their lives at sea are making the $$..
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- happy
- - June 21st, 2010 at 20:13:33
Yes binns is ruining lobster prices. I bet he sets the global oil price also. come on!
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- Steve
- - June 21st, 2010 at 20:11:16
There ain't no future for a man who works the sea, but there ain't no island left for islanders like me - Billy Joel
If Blaine Sullivan and his Ocean Choice buddies keep at their pace of wrecking the east coast fishery this will be a popular line for many people here on PEI. Ocean Choice has to go and so does Blaine Sullivan. Get out!!! -
- Chester Field
- - June 21st, 2010 at 20:07:27
Totally agree with Solmo Salar post #5....the lobster fishermen are business men and should become that....take control of your product, look at the co-ops and credit unions, get control of your industry, become the producer and the middleman(obsolvely, they're the ones really making the money)....get holding tanks and wait until somebody is willing to pay the price....Because they will....go after ACOA for money to set up these holding tanks, us , the taxpayers will back you, not only that we will buy shares into it....Take control of your Industry Before It Is Toooooo Late....don't go the way of the Cod....
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- Phyllis Darlene
- - June 21st, 2010 at 20:06:09
The same can be said about the price of oysters....they haven't gone up in years but the prices of everything else has that the fishermen/women need to fish.
When I quit fishing the price of standard oysters were $10.00 a peck and $20.00 a peck for choice...same prices today.
I agree that the fisherpeople have to look after themselves and start marketing their own fish. The buyers aren't changing from year to year so they are making money on the fish they buy....its time for the fishermen/women to make that money themselves and cut out the middle man.
Form a Co-op, enlist the governments help....just do it! -
- Jake M
- - June 21st, 2010 at 20:04:54
solmo salar:
If you check newspapers from the mid to late 70's, fishermen talked about marketing boards then. The fish buyers, fish coops and unions persuaded gov.t (and some influencial fishermen) that they were not good. They spread fear of lost processing jobs in the community.
What's happened since then? Many fewer jobs in lobster processing, and fewer lobster buyers (maybe, government created).
Someone really expects buyers to volunteer to pay better prices to fishermen in this dream situation?
As long as fishermen are content to allow others to decide what's best for them, they will have to take what's dished out.
Someone else (somewhere) will drive a Porche and live in a big house from their labours, while fishermen, helpers and families count stamps. The profit seems now to be more in the value of the licence and gear, and the yearly UI benefits, than profit from the catch.
As for co-ops, they have been around for many years. They don't seem that agressive and one could question whether they help much in recent years. -
- Time for a change
- - June 21st, 2010 at 20:02:11
I think in order for Island fishermen to get the price they deserve they must be willing to come together and work towards a common goal. If that means not fishing to make a point then so be it. I know some people cannot afford to not fish for a week but there is no way we should get the low prices we get. Something has to change!! Selling to the Co-ops is a start.
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- Jonny
- - June 21st, 2010 at 19:58:47
Atta boy Bob Radley!!!
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- Arron
- - June 21st, 2010 at 19:58:14
We are getting $7.00lbs for lobster here in southwest Nova Scotia, And they are getting ripped off by the buyers price fixing and it should be looked into. They have been doing it for years. They are driving the young people west so they can fly south.
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- well
- - June 21st, 2010 at 19:49:56
but what about fisherwoman Donnie? isn't fisher a lot easier than fishermen and fisherwomen
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- Donnie
- - June 21st, 2010 at 19:49:40
Finallly a reporter who knows that a fisherman is not a fisher. Fisher is not the official name,and was never accepted as such.
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- Earl
- - June 21st, 2010 at 19:43:32
Hello guy's as a ex-fishermen's helper I can't imagine the frustration that fishermen are going through but I can give you some real numbers.
I work on a ship, right now we are at wet dock in Amelia Louisiana yesterday I took a trip to the local Wal-Mart in Bayou Vista Louisiana I walked past the lobster tank and of course it caught my eye the lobsters averaged around 2 to 4 lbs quite normal. To my amazement the price was $24.99 USD per lbs for the exact same lobster as we see landing on the wharfs in PEI Canada each day.
Who is making the MONEY?
I asked a few of Wal-Mart's costumers, who were buying up the lobster as if there was going to be no tomorrow.
Isn't this price excessive? their reply was sir this is a cheap price all I could think of was if they only knew the truth I regret not taking a picture it would look good on the election billboards in PEI.
Check it out for your self (973 Hwy 90 East Bayou Vista LA 70380 (985) 395-2094). -
- Telefunkin
- - June 21st, 2010 at 19:41:40
FYI Bob Radley, there are only 52 weeks in a year... 8 + 48 = 56.
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- Jonny
- - June 21st, 2010 at 19:40:23
Agree with Bob 100 percent....the rest of us work all year round trying to make ends meet, when these people are on pogey for the rest of the year, hanging out in each other's buildings...building traps...pfft....making 50 bucks a week less then the working man...get a frickin job....they dont even have to pay their pogey back at the end of the year, or 30 percent like any other guy would.....hang out at the rink all winter...go to the coffee shop....ya sure it is great, and any fisherperson will tell you that it IS great... some go west...make some money...come home and go back on pogey for a few months....what about a self employed guy with his own company....he has no work come in, and cant get a dime from the goverment......makes me sick......and as for a job that is sooo dangerous.....hahaha..... fished for a couple years ( and worked construction when done fishing) the easiest job you could have...if it is blowing too hard, you just dont go out...other then that, it is drinking beer and whatever else, and hanging out.....it is twice as dangerous working construction.....anyway, thats it for now....never proof read this...so feel free to comment on... .Oh thats not how you spell dangerous .....pfft...get a trade...go west....do what ever you have to...make a living.....get r dun...........go to work!
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- JEB
- - June 21st, 2010 at 19:40:13
This is just an example of corporate greed combined with shortsighted policies at all levels including the fishermen themselves. When will Maritimers stop waiting for the magic bullet and start working together to build sustainable communities? We must take control of our own destiny and stop waiting for others to do it for us. Multinational companies do not have the loyalty of local companies and that has been proven time and time again. Coops can work but this would mean that all involved would have to look at the big picture and there is the real problem. The sad reality is fishermen have been exploited and will continue to be exploited because they have allowed it to happen and dare I say have contributed to their own demise. Quite similar to the electoral process where we complain but do nothing to change it. Something to think about but more importantly something to act upon. Good luck as the future is in your hands.
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- solmo
- - June 21st, 2010 at 19:38:31
For the past several months, most menus at fine dining restaurants in the US have included a special note, apologizing for the unprecedented increase in the price of lobster. Even as close as Boston, two days ago, we paid more than $75.00 for a baked, stuffed 2-lb. lobster at one of the most popular seafood restaurants. So tell me...why are the PEI lobstermen only getting $6.00/lb. for larger sized markets? Are the lobsters somehow inferior? Are they soft? Are they spawning? The lobstermen and tuna fishermen of PEI are not getting a fair shake. I think that the only reason is that they are too busy fishing to take control of their own market destiny. They should organize and develop their own landing, packing, marketing, and distribution systems, with their own people who work for them, fighting for the best prices in the markets. Until the fishermen of PEI take control of their own destiny, they will continue to get lousy returns for the fruits of their labor, as they are taken advantage of by the market. There's only one way to go, and that takes an investment in time and money and people who will work for the fishermen to maximaize their returns. They've talked about it for decades, and until they do something about it, they should simply stop complaining.
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- citizen kane
- - June 21st, 2010 at 19:38:25
I TELL YOU , GET OUT OF IT IF YOU CAN!!! THE LOBSTER ARE GOING TO BE A THING OF THE PAST. THE COD FISHERS MET THE SAME DEMISE. LEAVE THE LOBSTER ALONE FOR A WHILE THEY MAY BUILD UP THEIR STOCKS AGAIN, JUST LOOK AT PAST CATCHES AND SIZES OF LOBSTER AN AWFUL DIFFERENCE.
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- Donnie
- - June 21st, 2010 at 19:36:40
The word fisher was started by politically correct university professors. It has never been accepted anywhere as an alternativefor fisherman. t was raised in in the Canada house of Commons by Floria MacDonald, during the Mulrooney government. It was not accepted as a proper alternativename.
Fishermen I talk with do not accept nor appriciate use of the word fisher (a small weasel like animal). Some feel it is demeaning and offensive. One wonman fisherm,an told me she also finds it offensibve,. It seems like fishermen themseves should have a sayin what they are called.
Maybe fishermen shold be asked?
