Wall says costs, prices squeeze P.E.I. lobster fishers — Ctv
ctv: Timothy Wall says some P.E.I. lobster fishers are working through a spring season where lower prices and higher operating costs are leaving them with less at the wharf. The third-generation fisher sets his gear farther from Malpeque Wharf than usual to find lobster, but he says the returns have not kept pace with the costs.
Wall said the cost of gas, bait and crew has doubled or tripled in some cases, while lobster prices are down about 20 per cent compared with five years ago. He said he is paid just over $7 for each pound sold, but the price needs to be closer to $10 per pound to feel like a living wage.
Malpeque Wharf prices
Wall said a decade ago, selling about 100 pounds of lobster could cover his expenses. During this roughly eight-week fishery, he said it now takes about 300 pounds to do the same. “You’re not getting ahead right now,” he said, adding that “It’s been a bad season, probably one of the worst ones we’ve had in the last 10 or 12 years.”
The pressure is not only at the dock. P.E.I.'s spring lobster fishery overlaps with other fisheries across Atlantic Canada and Quebec, which brings more product to buyers at once. Wall said that overlap can drive down shore prices in parts of the Island, even as some fishers in other Maritime provinces can sometimes make more per pound when they are landing larger lobster or fishing where fewer areas are open.
Right whale closures
Fisheries and Oceans Canada imposed three partial closures in P.E.I. after North Atlantic right whale detections, including some of the Island's main fishing spots along the north coast facing the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Wall said cold weather and those closures narrowed the fishing window, and he said storms have also cut into the season. “Every second or third day, it seems like it’s storming this year,” he said. “That’s been the story of the season.”
Wall said lobster does not seem to move in those conditions, which makes the hunt harder and the trips longer. He said “They just don’t seem to travel” and “They don’t seem to move.”
P.E.I. Fishermen's Association
Ian MacPherson, executive director of the P.E.I. Fishermen's Association, said the closures spanned much of the season and added to the strain on fishers trying to keep up with expenses. “Across the board, it’s just been really challenging,” he said. “So it puts on a lot of financial pressure if you’re not able to meet your obligations for the balance of the year.”
Wall said several fishers are carrying debt into the next year, missing payments or selling gear because they cannot keep up. “That’s a real hardship for the young fellows getting into it,” he said. “And some of the older fellows, well, maybe they’re just treading water.” MacPherson said the association is starting to see signs of stabilization in harvester prices in some parts of the province, but he also said, “We don’t want to price ourselves out of the market.”
