About 250 southeastern New Brunswick lobster fishermen in Canada gathered outside the new Homarus Centre in Shediac on Thursday after refusing to fish.
The fishermen say prices are 40 per cent lower than last year, when they were getting $7 for a pound of lobster.
This season, they said, they’re getting $4.50 to $5 a pound, which they say isn’t profitable with the higher expenses they’ve faced because of inflation.
Luc LeBlanc, fishing adviser at the Maritime Fishermen’s Union, confirmed to Radio-Canada that a majority of lobster fishermen in Zone 25, but not all, did not go out fishing Thursday morning.
This area includes fishers from southeastern New Brunswick and southwestern Prince Edward Island.
Luc Leblanc, the spokesperson from the Maritime Fishermen’s Union said the gathering was peaceful.
“[The fishermen] just wanted to let their feelings known and to make a little bit of a splash, which is what they did.”
Some fishermen told Radio-Canada the fishing stoppage could last until Monday.
Others said that if prices don’t go up, they could haul up their traps and stop fishing for the rest of the season, which started last Thursday.
Prices for lobster hit record highs during the pandemic. Exports reached a threshold of $3.2 billion, according to the Maritime Lobster Processors Association.
Restaurants around the province were buying lobster for as much as $18 per pound in 2021, up $5 from the year before.
But this year, there is a clear decline. Processors are struggling to sell shellfish and cold storage units are full.