Fisheries: industry looks to 2023 with caution and resilience

The fishing industry is adopting a cautious but resilient posture in the face of uncertainty about the upcoming season.

Large inventories of frozen products, the spectre of a global economic slowdown, the downgrading of snow crab and lobster by the American organization Seafood Watch: the indicators point to a more complicated season, after several years of record levels.

While he recognizes that the situation is worrisome, AQIP Director Jean-Paul Gagné reminds us that this is not the first storm to hit the sector, mentioning however that processors may have to lower their prices to sell their surpluses.

According to Gagné, the price of snow crab has sort of reached the limit of what consumers are willing to pay in 2021, which has carried over into 2022.

In this context, he believes that there is still a potential for growth in diversifying markets and species caught, as well as in developing value-added processing channels.

While the potential resumption of the redfish fishery intrigues the industry, Jean-Paul Gagné points out that the size of the specimens is still a problem for the marketing of redfish.

The AQIP Director also mentioned that the steps to obtain again the certification of sustainable fishery for snow crab in Area 12 are being pursued in consultation with the fishers.