http://worldcat.org/entity/work/id/895024658

The Canadian lobster fishery : trapped in a perfect storm : report of the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans

The House of Commons Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans (the Committee) travelled to the East Coast of Canada from March 29 to April 2, 2009 for a study of the current situation in the lobster fishery. In southwest Nova Scotia, lobster prices were at their lowest levels in 20 years during the opening month of the 2008-2009 fishing season. In 2008, lobster fishermen from Prince Edward Island received some of the lowest prices in decades. There are early indications that the 2009 fishing season could be significantly worse in terms of prices. In addition, there are significant concerns about the high exploitation rate and the sustainability of the resource. The situation has been described as a perfect storm hitting the lobster industry: a combination of resource uncertainty in certain areas, increased costs of doing business, and a decreasing demand for a luxury product in the context of a global economic and financial crisis. The serious challenges facing the lobster industry have led some stakeholders to ask for the assistance of the government, including the creation of a licence retirement program. The Committee believes that the challenges faced by the lobster fishery fall into three different categories: challenges of financial and economic nature, which include key issues such as accessing credit and ensuring the lobster fishermen's income and reducing his or her operating costs; marketing challenges; and sustainability-related challenges centered on conservation measures, the rationalization of the fishing effort, and the reorganization and the rejuvenation of the industry. All these issues will be discussed in this report.

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