Fall lobster landings hold steady in P.E.I.

By Andy Walker

Lobster landings in 2008 in the P.E.I. region of Lobster Fishing Area 25 are similar to last year’s landings.

Preliminary figures released by the Prince Edward Island Department of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Rural Development said total landings were three million pounds, up by less than one percent from 2007. This marks the second year in a row that landings were in the three-million-pound range, a level not seen since 2001. “I am pleased that total landings are holding steady, although higher expenses and lower prices have impacted returns to fishers,” said Fisheries, Aquaculture and Rural Development Minister Allan Campbell. ”We need to continue to monitor the market situation very carefully over the winter months and discuss as an industry how we best position this province’s high quality lobster products.”

The minister said that the department is also carefully examining the state of lobster stocks in the Northumberland Strait. The department’s lobster resource monitoring program again collected data, which is being analyzed and which will be available to fishers at a later date.

Total lobster landings for Prince Edward Island in 2008 are 21.9 million pounds, an increase of 8.8 percent over last year. This year’s landings were the highest since 1991. The largest increase this year was in LFA 26A, which increased by close to 25 percent to 4.8 million pounds. LFA 24 landings increased by just over six percent to 14 million pounds.

The landed value for 2008 is in the $100 million range, compared to $107 million in 2007. The lobster fishery employs 6500 people in the fishing and processing sectors and contributes $250 million to the provincial economy. Lobsters account for 65 percent of the landed value of the total fishery in the province.