A successful pilot project to ship live canner lobsters into the Chinese marketplace is well underway, says Fisheries, Aquaculture and Rural Development Minister, Neil LeClair.
“Our Prince Edward Island lobster industry is excited about the initial response to our live canner lobster shipments to China,” said Minister LeClair. “We need to continue to tell the world about our unique products as we diversify into new export markets.”
The provincial government has been working cooperatively with By the Water Shellfish, Milligan’s Fisheries, Royal Star Foods, the AVC Lobster Science Centre and the Prince Edward Island Fishermen’s Association to ship live canner lobsters to markets in several Chinese cities.
Under the pilot project, the Department of Fisheries, Aquaculture, and Rural Development, in conjunction with Innovation PEI and Sunrise Innovative Enterprises Ltd., have been working on logistics to support Prince Edward Island companies involved in the project. The initial focus has been to collect information using a mix of existing and new customers in Beijing, Shanghai, Qingdao and Xiamen.
“There are a lot of logistics that must be arranged to develop a market on the other side of the world and I am pleased that we have a team of people who have been working together to demonstrate that there is great potential in this marketplace,” said Mr. LeClair.
The provincial government has supported recent trade missions to China and hosted incoming buyers and Chinese media. The project also engaged the services of an immigrant businessman in Charlottetown to assist with contacts in the Chinese marketplace.
“Several thousand pounds of live lobster have already been shipped and we are hopeful that our Island companies will continue to foster business relationships in China which will ensure more shipments of live PEI canner lobsters to this market,” said Innovation and Advanced Learning Minister Allan Campbell. “This is a great development for seafood producers and for all Island exporters.”