N.S. lobster industry looking for buyers ahead of incoming tariffs

The seafood tariff is bracing for possible 25 per cent tariffs from the United States and China.

The Nova Scotia lobster industry is trying to get its product to buyers before 25 per cent tariffs by China and the United States kick in.

Shawn Landry’s phone has been ringing non-stop from buyers looking to get what they can before the lobster levy starts.

“The day before yesterday we had a call and they wanted to get everything that we had left just, essentially, to get ahead of the tariff if it comes on again. Same thing with China going forward, they are just calling, ‘Do you have anything, do you have anything?’ They want to get stuff in there before the tariff hits there as well,” Landry says.

The last of Landry’s 23,000 pounds of lobster has been packed for a shipment to Boston.

“We’ll take them out of tubes today and get them ready and crates and put them back in the water and give them a drink and clean them up And they’ll go on the tractor trailer tomorrow,” he says.

Sellers across southwestern Nova Scotia are looking to unload their inventory as soon as possible.

“The Chinese live lobster buyers have, over the weekend, flooded their suppliers with orders,” says Geoff Irvine, executive director of the Lobster Council of Canada.

China’s 25 per cent tariff comes in effect on March 20, followed by the U.S. on April 2. It’s expected the demand for lobsters will dry up because there’s no room to increase the price to the consumer. For fishermen like Tom Henneberry, at the current shore price of $15 a pound, they can’t take any less for their catch.

“Everything’s costly, it’s going up. Same as paying everybody on the boat and everything else, if they want to drop the price, it ain’t no good,” he says. “We’re already talking about a product that is significantly expensive, I guess, as it should be with the cost of everything to catch this product.”

There’s hope a deal can be reached ahead of the spring lobster season.

“Right now, our season is still open until May 31, so we’re leading into going into our spring season coming up here. It’s definitely going to add pressure to us as well as the fisher. I mean, it works both ways, we’re in a relationship there, they fish them, we buy them,” says Landry.

Landry will be following his lobster shipment to Boston in a few days as part of a contingent including Premier Tim Houston and fisheries minister that will be heading to the North American Seafood Expo.

They’ll all be looking to find new markets for the product.

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