Lobster prices way down since spring

Two weeks into the fall lobster season, P.E.I. fishermen are finding they are getting a lot less for their catch than what was offered during the spring season.

The P.E.I. Fishermen's Association said buyers are paying around $2.50 a pound for canners and $2.75 a pound for market-sized lobster. As the spring season came to a close at the end of June, fishermen were getting close to $5 a pound.

Stephen Ramsay, who fishes off Howard's Cove in western P.E.I., said that's half of what he got a decade ago.

"It's like if someone came to you today, and you were making $20 and you still had to put gas in your vehicle, and said you're back to $10 dollars an hour," said Ramsay.

"It's quite the slap in the face. It's really discouraging to think that something that you want to do, and an industry that's a big industry on the Island, that it's not working."

Ramsay said all the players, including buyers and processors, need to come up with a solution.

Figuring out the problem

Ian MacPherson of the P.E.I. Fishermen's Association said he's already met with provincial Fisheries Minister Ron MacKinley and Conservative MP for Egmont Gail Shea. He's meeting with the province again next week.

MacPherson says the prices here are lower than in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia and he is trying to figure out why.

"I'm on the phone quite a bit right now to some of my sources to see what the discreprency is about," he said.

MacKinley says he isn't overly concerned.

"Yes, that's a low price but there's a big supply but if you looked at three weeks ago, the fishermen were worried they wouldn't be able to sell their lobsters and they're getting their price," MacKinley said. "It's not a good price but let's hope that price can pick up."

By that time, it could be too late for Ramsay,.

Ramsay says he wants to see all industry players from across the Island — fishermen, buyers, and processors — come up with a solution together

"If the catch keeps dropping, we'll haul our gear in because you can't fish and fish and fish and make nothing," Ramsay said.

Ramsay, like many others, has fishing loans to pay.

So, he said he's already planning on sending out his resume for a possible job out west if things on the Island don't turn around soon.