Gail Shea, minister of Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans, says two new free-trade agreements should provide a significant economic boost for the Maritime Provinces.
Canada has deals signed in principal with the EU and more recently South Korea. SeafoodSource caught up with Shea at Seafood Expo North America at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center on Sunday.
“Fish and seafood is a big part of those deals,” says Shea. “In South Korea, for example, some of our products are facing tariffs as high as 47 percent. It’s significant. Europe imports CAD 25 billion worth of seafood each year, so it’s a tremendous opportunity for Canada to fill that market more than we are.
“Just in the lobster industry in Atlantic Canada, the tariff for lobster going into Europe is CAD 607 million annually, so that’s money that will end up back in the pockets of the industry in Canada.”
