People in the troubled Maritime lobster sector are converging on Halifax with high expectations for what an organizer is calling a historic industry summit.
“Federal and provincial politicians appear ready to act on some recommendations that are on the table, and the industry wants to provide them with a clear mandate,” Geoff Irvine, with the Lobster Council of Canada, said Tuesday.

“We’ll have about 200 industry and government representatives and industry experts from each of the provinces, and we’re expecting to see some progress on various fronts.”
Irvine was referring to the four key recommendations in the Maritime Lobster Panel report, released last fall, that are the focus of the Canadian lobster-value recovery summit that runs Wednesday and Thursday at the Lord Nelson Hotel & Suites.

The summit and the recommendations are a response to exceedingly low prices and larger-than-average catches that have triggered recent industry turmoil.
Some lobster fishing in the region stopped abruptly last year due to low prices.
During the two-day summit, industry officials will try to advance the report’s four recommendations: establishment of an independent Maritime lobster institute; a generic marketing campaign; price-setting mechanisms; and setting an industry levy.
Federal Fisheries and Oceans Minister Gail Shea and fisheries ministers from each of the Maritime provinces are participating.

“It is critical that the lobster industry provide me and my fellow Maritime fisheries ministers with input to help determine the plan for adopting key aspects of the Maritime Lobster Panel report,” Fisheries and Aquaculture Minister Keith Colwell said in a news release.
“I urge the industry to step forward and help us move the lobster industry into a new, brighter and sustainable future.”