An air of caution precedes opening of season

By Michael Gorman

FOR THE SOU’WESTER

There may be no better proof of just how connected the world is than the lobster industry.

As countries around the world experience economic uncertainty and downturns, there is a very good chance that could reverberate on the local lobster industry. And as everyone in Yarmouth County, N.S. prepares for the opening of the season, they do so with an air of caution.

Wade Nickerson of SeaKist Lobsters Ltd. is one of the people waiting to see what happens. For Nickerson, who's operated a lobster pound for 30 years, one of the biggest concerns is the state of the cannery industry. Icelandic institutions bankrolled many of the canneries in New Brunswick. As that country teeters on the edge of economic collapse, Nickerson says that makes it more difficult to move product. "I'm worried about it, quite worried about it. That sort of brought things to a halt."

Nickerson said a lot of people who would normally sell lobster to canneries are now confronted with the reality that those canneries might not be in the same position to purchase lobster as they once were. That could mean more live lobster on hand than people know what to do with. "That's probably where 50 per cent of the lobsters go when the season opens or more," he said. "The amount of lobsters that are caught in our area can't all go in the fresh market. You're going to have so much going live, you're going to have so much going to the pounds and then you're going to have so much going to the canneries. If the canneries fail or don't buy it would be devastating for the economy and lobster fishermen."

Nickerson doesn't do a lot of business with canneries, focusing instead on the U.S. market, however he knows many people in the area who do do a fair amount of business with canneries. But the fact that Nickerson targets the U.S. market means he faces his own challenge.

With people facing their own difficult financial times there, Nickerson said they are less likely to be interested in buying his product. If fewer people are buying lobster in the U.S. it means there is likely to be an abundance of domestic product, which would mean less of a need for lobsters from people like Nickerson. His big concern now is about being able to unload the volume of lobster he will have once the season opens in this area. "There's only so much that can be absorbed through the fresh side of (the market)," he said. "A major amount of it has always been absorbed by the canneries."

But with fewer canneries potentially looking to buy, it could mean a lot of live lobsters will have no place to go. (Michael Gorman is a journalist with Transcontinental Media’s Vanguard newspaper, which is a contributor to the Sou’Wester.)