Is the seafood boycott having a negative effect on Newfoundland and Labrador fishermen?
The boycott on Canadian seafoods has had no effect on the markets in the United States in fact the United States remains our greatest market accounting for 37% of our seafood market. The US Center for Consumer Freedom disputed the Humane Society of the United States’ claims of support for the boycott saying that businesses were unaware of this list. It is important to note that the seafood industry is cyclical, with rising and falling prices. We are now in a downward part of the cycle and improvements are expected in the year to come. Animal rights groups used the declining price of crab to suggest that the seafood industry has been seriously harmed by the boycott. This is simply not true. Many factors in the global marketplace impact the price of Canadian seafood. Right now our seafood products are being strongly impacted by the increasing Canadian dollar, the rising cost of fuel, increasing interest rates and low cost labour in other jurisdictions. Some of the restaurants that are bo
