Selection of lobsters. (Photo: Luis Eustaquio)

First shipment of live lobsters heads for Japan

MEXICO
Monday, October 26, 2009, 10:40 (GMT + 9)

The first shipment of live lobster, weighing 700 kg took off for Japan from Baja California Sur on Friday.

This feat, which marks the launch of a new market for the Baja California Sur product, is the fruit of promotional actions undertaken by authorities and local producers.

Last April, a Baja California Sur delegation of seafood producers of the North Pacific zone, visited several Asian countries in search of new market niches, headed by Governor Narcissus Agundez Montano.

After that initial contact, a group of representatives from the Japanese company Tosenbo Co. Ltd, the most important seller of live seafood products from that country, visited Mexico to evaluate the possibility of initiating bilateral trade relations – for buying, processing and packing of abalone and lobster – in the long term.

The director of International Relations, Marcos Ehremberg Styles, explained that the Baja California Sur lobster was exported by the Fisheries Cooperative Federation of the North Pacific Zone.

Authorities and executives are now waiting to see in what conditions the product is received,for this will indicate whether or not the strengthening of this commercialisation channel will forge ahead, not only for lobster, but also for other fisheries like abalone.

The possibility of signing a buy-sell contract will be evaluated depending on the Japanese company’s success in promoting the Baja California Sur lobster among its main clients.

Ehremberg Styles explained that as much the lobster as other products of the North Pacific Zone are distinguished by their quality and health, aspects that have allowed them to successfully penetrate the most demanding markets at the national and international level, Tribuna de los Cabos reports.

In February 2010, a promotional sample of the fishing production of the region will take place in the city of Tokyo, assembled together with the producers of the North Pacific Zone, he revealed.

Japanese executives offered the Mexican fishing producers support in technology transfer matters in order to guarantee that products arriving to the Asian country reflect the quality and conditions demanded by the Japanese market, he also recalled.

According to data furnished by the Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fishery and Food (SAGARPA), 74,354 kg of red lobster were landed between 1 January and 19 September 2009.

Related article and information:

- CRAB/SHELLFISH MARKET REPORT, 13 October
- Next stop for Baja California Sur lobster – Japan

By Analia Murias
editorial@fis.com
www.fis.com