However, the buyer and transformer of lobster Roch Lelièvre, the Lelièvre, Lelièvre and Lemoignan firm, Sainte-Thérèse-de-Gaspé, notes the prudence of wholesalers, food chains and fishmongers located in urban areas, as well as American importers.
The climate of uncertainty characterizing the American economy and its effects on a neighbor as Canada influence transactions in the fishing sector, as elsewhere, notes Mr. Lelièvre.
“They look at, buyers of our products. THE deals are slow. It helps, that there are no prices on marine products, but they always have a fear for the economy. With prices, it would have been strong as a situation. People expect stability and there is none. No one is confident. We always have a sword of Damocles on the head. It is early to see the trend of the season, ”he analyzes.
The lobster capture season in Gaspésie began on April 27, and the first landings were made the next day. It lasts 10 weeks, with a maximum number of 68 days of catch. In the Islands-de-Madeleine, the 150th season began on May 3 with the launching of the lockers. The first doses were landed on May 5, and the season lasts nine weeks, deployed in 54 days of capture. Madelinots do not fish on Sunday.
The lobster catches of the islands of the-Madeleine greatly influence what will be paid for the Gaspé lobsters since the factories of the peninsula decided to align their price with that of the Madelinots from the start of the season in the archipelago.
This price will therefore be set at the beginning of next week by an accounting equation taking into account the transactions made from a certain number of buyers. It is thus adjusted every week.
Consumers who are advantaged at the moment
The decrease of $ 0.75 of the price paid to Gaspé fishermen is received with some teeth grinks, but it does the business of consumers. Roch Lelièvre also operates a fishmonger next to its factory, a factory which employs 230 people.
“We sell the lobster $ 8.95 The book, living. last year was $ 9.75. The $ 7 price to the fisherman is not final. We’re going to see. Normally, after the arrival of the joint plan [l’équation comptable déterminant le prix aux Îles-de-la-Madeleine]the price rises a little. People [pêcheurs] are disappointed, but the season is still young, even if it passes quickly, ”he says.
The more massive routing than usual of Lobster of Nova Scotia in the Quebec, Ontario and the United States markets is one of the elements helping to keep the price for landing in this spring 2025.
“Nova Scotia sold a lot in China, but factories have to face a penalty of 44%. China imposes a price of 25%, plus a tax. Nova Scotia companies sell everywhere in our markets. Americans, moreover, are slower to buy this year. ”
— Roch leeière
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If the lively lobster buyers are hesitant, the flesh market, processed products therefore, is more vigorous.
“Buyers do not run us afterwards, but the flesh market is good. The inventories of frozen products were low at the start of the season. We also started to make products for Europe. This week, we have a van [un conteneur sur remorque de camion] which is exported there. All fishing sectors [du Canada atlantique] started. We must diversify the markets, ”says Lelièvre.
Mother’s Day is the largest period of lobster consumption in Quebec. “Large channels embark, as much metro as IGA. It helps us a lot, “he said, adding that after May 11, Quebec factories must geographically extend their outlets.
A slower capture rhythm
Roch Lelièvre, who buys the captures of fifteen Gaspé lobsters and those of around fifty of New Brunswick fishermen, observed a lower pace of captures, compared to 2024.
“The weather was hard, the wind especially. It fishes all the time, but the sockets are slower to come back than last year, ”he notes.
The lobster Johnny Ross and George Skene, based in Saint-Godefroi, on the south side of the Gaspésie, abound in the same direction.
The gaspé skene’s lobster Gaspé Skene believes that his start to the season is slightly better than that of 2024. (Gilles Gagné / Special collaboration)
“My landings are a little lower this season than last year, but it’s only the start of the season,” notes Mr. Ross.
“I do not compare my figures every day with those of last year, but it looks like this year, it’s a little better. The time it does is difficult, however, ”says George Skene.
In 2024, lobster landings in Quebec continued their ascent for an eighth year in a row, according to statistics from the Federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Quebec lobster delivered 14,664 metric tonnes of their crustacean. Overall revenues have established $ 228 million, a modest decline of 4 million compared to 2023.
Only a price drop, from $ 7.43 per book in 2023 to $ 6.99 in 2024, a decrease of 5.9 %, explains the slight drop in income. In 2024, lobster catches in the islands-the-Madeleine monopolized 51% of the total Quebec. The climb for a few years of the Gaspésie and the North Shore in this chapter was more accentuated than that of the islands, where a record was still recorded in 2024.
