The U.S.’s weak dollar and its moribund economy have had an adverse impact on Nova Scotia’s lobster business. As a result, new markets — and a new cachet — may be necessary to claw out from under the reduced U.S. demand for the world’s luxury crustacean.

Bedford, N.S.-based Clearwater Seafoods Ltd. believes that it has found a way to stand out from the crowd: branded lobster. In fact, the seafood company is putting its name right on its lobster. More specifically, a plastic sleeve with the Clearwater brand will be placed — gently — over one of each lobster’s claws.

The company contends that it’s a safe and humane way to give their lobsters a leg up in a competitive market that has gone global — a fact that is reflected in Clearwater’s first batch of branded crustaceans, which were shipped to China just in time for that country’s New Year celebrations.

Looking beyond the U.S. market is a sound strategy, says Alex Koustas, an economist with Bank of Nova Scotia’s economics department in Toronto: “Demand from the U.S. is not great, but there are opportunities if premium catches are sent to other markets, such as Japan.”

Realizing those opportunities, Koustas stresses, will take time. But while demand is ebbing, we’re starting from a position of strength. Nationally, lobster is Canada’s most valuable seafood export; it brought in $803.4 million in 2009, which was down from $921 million in 2008. That money comes from more than 59 countries whose residents have enjoyed a good feed of lobster from our shores. Still, Canada’s biggest customer traditionally has been the U.S., as 54% of all lobster exports land there.

Nova Scotia accounts for about 44% of Canada’s lobster export value and 25% of all of Canada’s seafood industry. In 2009, fish landings had a value of $541 million, and shellfish — more than half of which was lobster — ate up 79.1% of that. In terms of seafood exports, Nova Scotia was one of the top provinces in 2009, raking in more than $809.7 million of the $3.6 billion national total. Internationally, however, that figure was down by 4% from the year prior while sales to the U.S. dipped by 2.4%, the result of increased fuel costs and a strong loonie.

The price of lobster is a key factor in the decline. Lobster prices on the East Coast dipped to below $3 a pound last season, a 20-year low.

Clearwater is not the only one stepping up to the plate in an effort to combat reduced fortunes. The federal government has announced that it is pumping almost $2.2 million into the Atlantic lobster fishery business to develop new processing technology and new products. According to federal Fisheries Minister Gail Shea, the money is part of an effort to find long-term solutions to ongoing industry problems.

“We all know that we have to get the price for lobster up,” Shea says. The secret, she adds, lies in cracking open new
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