All Boats Rise with the Tide lobster publication. (Photo: Lobster.ca)

Industry experts try to spark Atlantic Canadian lobster fever

CANADA
Wednesday, February 20, 2013, 01:30 (GMT + 9)

Canadian Atlantic Lobster Inc and Lobster.ca are asking Atlantic Canadian businesses for support by participating in All Boats Rise with the Tide, an annual industry publication that contains thousands of dollars of savings, now that the highest lobster catches on record are going for a measly CAD 3.25 (USD 3.22) per lb. This approach is meant to inspire consumers to boost the local economy.

All Boats Rise with the Tide will have coupons from participating companies that can be used by consumers in local businesses, thereby hopefully injecting generous capital into not just the lobster industry but Atlantic Canada’s economy as a whole, co-founder Patrick Swim explained.

“It’s a value-proposition to people in the industry to become a part of the membership and work together, pulling in one direction positively,” Swim said, The Chronicle Herald reports. “It’s our first call to action for businesses to get behind this industry and help usher in an era of ‘lobsterpreneurship’ among Atlantic Canadian businesses.”

The first print run of All Boats Rise will consist of 10,000 copies to be distributed among industry stakeholders throughout Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.

The long-term goal, however, is for Canadian Atlantic Lobster to organise itself as a co-operative that will use the annual membership fees of more than 25,000 fishers to market, brand and support sales of the region’s fair-trade lobster all over the world. The idea is to market this lobster as a premium product that can fetch a higher price than regular lobster.

To compete, the industry standards would be higher, limiting the number and types of lobster that fit the bill: soft-shelled and heavier or otherwise imperfect lobsters would be canned or discarded.

“We have the Mercedes Benz of lobster in Atlantic Canada and we need to approach this as a united front to market it that way,” Swim said. “Just 50 cents per lb more to the fishermen would be CAD 70,000,000 (USD 69.4 million) back in to the East Coast economy.”

To make sure that consumers know this lobster is Canadian, as it is often resold by the US, the group has created patriotic lobster claw bands and tags with a scannable QR code and the Lobster.ca web address. Scanning the code would show exactly where in Atlantic Canada the lobster was caught and other details.

By Natalia Real
editorial@fis.com
www.fis.com

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