Sales of lobster in both the U.S. and Canada continue to be strong and demand is rising, according to experts within the industry.
Data revealed during a panel at the Global Seafood Market Conference indicates that the export market to Asia has continued to grow, and that sales of all sizes of lobster tails are at all-time highs. Prices have also remained steady, though they continue to follow the cyclical nature of the lobster season in the U.S. and Canada.
“The lobster industry tends to be driven by supply and demand. If supply is up, and demand is low, prices are low, and vice versa,” Sheila Adams, co-owner of Maine Coast Lobster, said during a panel covering shellfish.
Currently, demand in most markets is high, and according to Adams, Southeast Asia is a major growth market for lobster. That’s due to a number of factors, including a growing capacity in the industry to process lobster and technological advances in the industry.
“The other thing that’s starting to emerge as technology improves, we have a better ability to hold the lobsters longer,” Adams said. As lobster are able to be held for longer periods, sometimes as long as three months, supplies can help even out pricing during times when demand shifts and catches aren’t as high.
The Chinese market for lobster is still robust, but exports to the country from the U.S. have plummeted, as trade data confirmed in 2019. In 2019, through November, Canada’s exports to China, Hong Kong, and Vietnam vastly outperformed those from the U.S., with five lobsters being shipped from Canada for every one from the U.S. While that has forced big changes where American companies ship their lobsters, it has opened up opportunities for the U.S. in other markets as Canada’s capacity has now been taken up by Chinese demand.
“It has essentially shifted to Canada,” Adams said of demand from China. “We saw growth in every other region of Southeast Asia, partly because Canada couldn’t pay attention to them.”
The U.S. is also poised to benefit from additional processing capacity that will be coming online in the near future, which could take some of that market back from Canada.
“The processing coming online in the U.S. is state-of-the-art,” Adams said. “We’re seeing a lot of really top-notch U.S.A. processors coming online.”
That could be an added benefit, thanks to the lobster-tail market remaining robust. In September 2018, John Norton, the founder and president of Cozy Harbor Seafood in Portland Maine, told SeafoodSource that he’d “never seen a market this strong for lobster tails, ever.”
That trend continued into 2019, with prices for all types of lobster tails – including Brazilian and Caribbean spiny lobster tails – sitting at all-time highs. Concurrently, Hurricane Dorian had a heavy impact on many of the fisheries in the Caribbean, particularly the Bahamas, just as they were poised to be a lucrative fishery. That sent exports down 38.3 percent when comparing November 2019 with November 2018, according to data shown during the panel.
That constriction in supply, coupled with strong demand, has sent prices climbing even higher. Data indicates that five-ounce lobster tails are currently pricing at close to USD 24.00 (EUR 21.69) a pound, the highest prices have been in a decade. The price in 2019 was 20 percent higher than in 2018.
Meat pricing, as well, is approaching new highs. The price is over USD 26.00 (EUR 23.49) per pound, nearing the all-time-high set back in July 2016.
“If the cost of acquisition goes up, then logically of course the price of the product has to go up as well,” Adams said.
Initially, supplies out of Maine were also looking to be reduced due to a slow start to the season, but late-season landings counter-acted the slow start, with the industry expecting a 100-million-pound season.
“The catches in Maine have been very very strong,” Adams said.
The market is shaping to continue to be strong into 2020, and the recent signing of a “Phase One” trade deal between the U.S. and China could continue to benefit the industry.
“We remain very bullish on the health of the fishery, and there’s no scary warning signs there,” Adams said. “It’ll be very interesting to see what 2020 looks like.”
Photo courtesy of WoodysPhotos/Shutterstock
