Bad weather and low prices hurting Nova Scotia lobster season

Bad weather has delayed fishing in the Nova Scotia lobstering season, resulting in low prices.

High winds delayed opening day until 28 November, and recent snowstorms kept some fishermen out of the water, according to a CBCNews article.

"This year the weather was bad, catches are low, and the prices are low. So we're getting a three-banger at the same time,” fisherman Roger Leblanc told CBCNews. "Right now. we're down almost 40 percent or 50 percent less than last year.”

As a result, dock prices are around CAD 5.00 (USD 3.74, EUR 3.58) per pound, compared to last season, when landings were high and prices reached a healthy CAD 6.00 (USD 4.48, EUR 4.29) per pound.

"If you're just here for the money, well, it's not a good year to be in it," Leblanc said.

The downward-trending lobster season is not great for the growing demand for Canadian lobsters in Asia, either, as there is concern that the bad season so far will leave exporters short of product.

Live lobster and seafood exports from Halifax Stanfield International Airport soared by CAD 57 million (USD 43 million, EUR 41 million) to CAD 149 million (USD 111 million, EUR 107 million) in 2015, according to the airport. As a result, Halifax Stanfield recently added a 17,000-square-meter cargo pad “to accommodate parking these large cargo freighters, while lobster is loaded on to the aircraft,” the airport said in a statement.

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