Decrease in Canadian Lobster Catchable Sizes to Not Affect Import Prices in South Korea

Fresh Common Lobster

Canada

Regulation & Compliances

Market & Price Trends

Yoojung Shim

Published Jun 30, 2022

The Canadian government has raised the catchable size this year for population maintenance and conservation. New Brunswick, a major lobster variety in Canada, has been changed from 77 mm to 79 mm and from 74 mm to 75 mm in Prince Edward Island (PEI). As a result, the production of 300-350g and 350-400g lobster which is preferred in Korea (frozen), has decreased. Small sizes, in particular, have become harder to source as demand has shifted from NB to PEI. In addition, the catchable size for the PEI will increase by 2mm from this fall onward and will increase again in 2024. Not only small-sized fish but the overall catch is also not good, so domestic importers have not been able to contract the quantities as they want, especially for small-sized products.

But that doesn't mean that the offer price and sales price in Korea will soar. No matter how high the lobster offer is, the lobster market tends to maintain a similar market size every year, which was how it was for 2021 and 2020, Before the start of the season this year, everyone expected a very high offer due to inflation, rising oil prices, but prices have not soared considerably compared to last year. Currently, the offer price for frozen steamed lobster is in the early to mid USD 9 per lb (late USD 8 to early USD 9 last year), and the domestic wholesale is expected to form accordingly throughout the year. (A year's worth of lobster is sourced mostly in May during the spring season and sold throughout the year.)