Canadian crab, lobster industry officials look for answers in Boston

Rhythm Rathi · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 15, 2025 2:44 PM EDT | Last Updated: 5 minutes ago

Canadian crab and lobster manufacture representatives, including immoderate from New Brunswick, will beryllium looking for answers and opportunities astatine a seafood accumulation successful Boston.

The extremity is to develop relations with different manufacture players arsenic Canada faces tariff troubles with some the U.S. and China.

The U.S. has postponed 25 per cent tariffs connected astir Canadian goods until April 2, but China's tariffs that people Canadian crab and lobster volition travel into effect March 20, according to a erstwhile CBC report.

"It's going to beryllium precise hard to settee connected prices fixed that we person to physique successful that the tariffs are happening," said Geoff Irvine, enforcement manager of the Lobster Council of Canada. 

"Most of our unrecorded lobster is sold, truthful we're coming into the outpouring with a reasonably blank slate knowing that we're going to person a important magnitude of lobster successful April and May and June."

The expo attracts galore countries. Major seafood exporters acceptable up booths astatine the show.

"I'll beryllium looking to spot what they do, however they bash it, however they wage for it, and effort to bring that home, and erstwhile again effort to travel up with a selling strategy for each Canadian seafood," said Irvine.

He said determination is different seafood expo successful Spain this May to sermon the European market. Irvine said helium is besides successful talks with customers successful China, Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

"I afloat expect that a batch of our exporters volition power arsenic overmuch of their income to different markets arsenic they can," helium said. "But keeping successful caput that the United States is by acold our biggest marketplace and we indispensable merchantability a important magnitude of our products here, and we will."

Gilles Theriault, the enforcement manager of the New Brunswick Crab Processors Association, volition besides beryllium successful Boston.

He said his extremity is to instrumentality with an knowing astir who — the purchaser oregon the seller — would carnivore the extra outgo of tariffs.

It would either mean an costly merchandise for the lawsuit oregon a nonaccomplishment for the fisher, helium said.

He said inflated prices successful the U.S. could pb consumers to debar costly lobsters and crabs until the off-season.

He said if that happens, it whitethorn complicate however the fishers get paid arsenic the merchandise would person to beryllium stored and rates would apt change.

Theriault is besides looking to make caller markets perchance successful Europe and Asia.

"People person to recognize that you don't make these markets overnight, it takes time, it takes years sometimes," helium said. 

Irvine said determination surely is simply a precocious request successful the American marketplace for Canadian seafood, careless of tariffs, and it is conscionable a question of sorting retired the champion terms that would enactment done the proviso chain.

He said helium met a fig of Americans connected Friday nighttime and their absorption fascinated him. 

"They were apologetic," helium said. "They were empathetic. I deliberation we person a existent accidental successful America to entreaty to Americans who enactment us."

He said helium is optimistic astir the outcome. He said thing other could pb to "a meltdown" for the Canadian lobster industry.

"It has to spell arsenic I expect it to go. This is … our biggest marketplace by far."