12 Sep
An almost exceptional season for Gaspé lobster boats
According to the Association of Professional Fishermen of Southern Gaspésie, the 2022 season is second among the best fishing seasons for Gaspé lobster boats, after that of 2021.
The general manager of the Regroupement, O’Neil Cloutier, indicates that this observation can be made both from the point of view of prices and of the volumes caught.
Gaspé fishermen brought 8,170,000 pounds of lobsters to the wharf in 2022, a drop of about 2% compared to 2021.
Prices followed the same trend, decreasing slightly. On average, anglers had earned a record landed price of $8.35 a pound in 2021. They received an average of 40¢ less this year.
According to the Association of Professional Fishermen of Southern Gaspésie, the 2022 season is second among the best fishing seasons for Gaspé lobster boats, after that of 2021.
The general manager of the Regroupement, O’Neil Cloutier, indicates that this observation can be made both from the point of view of prices and of the volumes caught.
Gaspé fishermen brought 8,170,000 pounds of lobsters to the wharf in 2022, a drop of about 2% compared to 2021.
Prices followed the same trend, decreasing slightly. On average, anglers had earned a record landed price of $8.35 a pound in 2021. They received an average of 40¢ less this year.
Difficult start to the season
However, the storms at the end of April and the beginning of May did not suggest such a result.
The spring cold weighed on the first two weeks of fishing for those who went out at the very start of the season, on April 25.
This explains why catches were worse than in 2021 in area 20, which extends from Gaspé to Bonaventure East. At the end of the season, in the last five or six weeks, the volumes have increased, whereas normally it is the opposite, which showed that the lobster was indeed present on the bottom, explains O’Neil Cloutier.
Mr. Cloutier indicates that the fishermen of the bordering zones, that is to say zone 19 and zone 21, experienced good weeks of fishing throughout the season. It’s also one of the reasons why the season ended up being excellent without reaching the heights of 2021.
According to the Association of Professional Fishermen of Southern Gaspésie, the 2022 season is second among the best fishing seasons for Gaspé lobster boats, after that of 2021.
The general manager of the Regroupement, O’Neil Cloutier, indicates that this observation can be made both from the point of view of prices and of the volumes caught.
Gaspé fishermen brought 8,170,000 pounds of lobsters to the wharf in 2022, a drop of about 2% compared to 2021.
Prices followed the same trend, decreasing slightly. On average, anglers had earned a record landed price of $8.35 a pound in 2021. They received an average of 40¢ less this year.
The market responded
At the Association québécoise de l’industrie de la Pêche (AQIP), which represents manufacturers, spokesperson Jean-Paul Gagné confirms that the sale of live lobster went as well. Consumers have responded. I’ll give you an example, in the Magdalen Islands, at the end of the season, there was almost no inventory left, argues Mr. Gagné.
This is good news for seafood processing plants that have had more difficulty selling processed lobster. The same factories have also been shaken by the fall in the price of snow crab in the spring, which is weakening the industry.
Maintaining prices is also good news for lobster fishermen who, like many, have to juggle with rising costs. Gasoline, bait, traps, the price of several inputs has doubled in the last two years, underlines the spokesperson for the Gaspé lobster fishermen.
Lobster fishermen are now keeping an eye on the next season.
The conflict in Ukraine, inflationary uncertainties and fears of a recession could cloud the market. Added to this are industrialists struggling with unsold snow crab stocks and new constraints to protect marine mammals.
The challenge will be to stay in a horizon that does not appear so beautiful, without making people panic, comments Mr. Cloutier.
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