A Swedish proposal to ban the import of live American lobsters into the European Union was rejected on Friday, 14 October, with an EU committee citing the disruption it would cause to trade as the primary for the decision.
Sweden has sought the ban since March 2016, arguing American lobsters presented a threat as an invasive species. Sweden presented evidence to the EU in September showing it found 32 American lobsters in its waters since 2008, along with a few examples of cross-breeding between American lobsters and native crustaceans.
Sweden’s proposal advanced in September when the E.U.’s Scientific Forum on Invasive Alien Species ruled it had presented enough evidence to consider a ban. But the effort was snuffed out Friday following a review by the EU's Committee on Invasive Alien Species, which said it would explore other "less trade restrictive" measures, according to the Financial Times.
"We are now exploring other measures," an unnamed European Commission official told the newspaper. The official and other unnamed sources said that there was no support for the ban from EU member states with representatives serving on the committee that decided the issue.
In 2015, lobstermen in the U.S. and Canada together export USD 200 million (EUR 178 million) worth of lobster to the E.U., with the U.S. state of Maine accounting for USD 130 million (EUR 118 million) alone.
Annie Tselikis, executive director of the Maine Lobster Dealers Association, confirmed the proposal’s defeat to SeafoodSource. Government and trade officials, scientists and industry representatives from the U.S. and Canada had worked together closely for the past seven months to fight the proposed ban, Tselikis said.
“We’re glad this has come to a close,” she said.
The “less trade restrictive” measures the EU will pursue will likely center around consumer education, Teslikis said, and specifically working to discourage consumers from releasing live American lobsters back into the ocean in Europe.
“Our next step will be to work with Sweden around their valid concerns, and do what we can to work with them moving forward,” Tselikis said. “It’s the responsibility of the industry both in the U.S. and Canada to work with our colleagues in Sweden to make sure we are doing everything we can to mitigate this in the future.”
