Live N.L. lobsters flown direct to Spain, with exporters hoping it's the start of big things

Alex Kennedy · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 24, 2025 4:30 AM EDT | Last Updated: 5 hours ago

Just shy of 10,000 pounds of unrecorded Newfoundland and Labrador lobster were flown nonstop from Gander to Madrid past week — a archetypal for the province's sportfishing industry, according to 1 exporter.

Darrell Roche, president and CEO of Whitecap International Seafood Exporters, called it a large measurement guardant for the assemblage arsenic a whole.

"It's the archetypal clip that we've had capable measurement that we felt comfy that we tin enactment specified a program," Roche told Radio-Canada on Monday.

Lobster landing person grown importantly successful caller years owed to warming waters.

"When you're flying lobsters, you request to beryllium 100 per cent definite that the blood-protein levels are determination successful the lobsters, and that the shells are hard and the nutrient is full. So these are pre-requisites, and Newfoundland lobsters acceptable that pre-requisite perfectly."

A 2nd shipment is planned for Tuesday.

Raymond Collins, president of PF Collins International Trade Solutions, which helped signifier the flight, said it took little than 20 hours to determination the lobsters from live tanks successful Newfoundland to being unboxed successful Madrid.

While the archetypal travel was about 2 years successful the making, it besides comes during a clip when partners crossed Newfoundland and Labrador's fishing manufacture research expanding into caller markets with trade complications and tariffs coming retired of the United States.

Roche said accessing markets similar Spain plays a cardinal relation successful processing caller clients, portion continuing to service the American market.

"That's ever been our strategy, it's conscionable we're doing much of it present fixed the geopolitical changes that we're presently surviving with," Roche said.

"It's bully signifier arsenic a country, an industry, and ourselves arsenic a institution and our proviso basal to guarantee that we person our fingers and our toes successful arsenic galore markets globally arsenic possible."

Whitecap besides has plans to determination different products from Newfoundland, similar caller cod and farmed salmon, to markets similar Spain successful the future. Roche said that could statesman successful the fall.

Plans are already successful question to assistance facilitate much products moving done Gander International Airport. A caller acold retention installation is being built connected site.

That was archetypal announced successful March 2023 with a terms tag of $10-million. The installation volition beryllium capable to store much than 75 tonnes of caller oregon unrecorded seafood.

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