Prince Edward Island Fishermen's Assoc.

Great News from our PEIFA Delegation at the recent trade show in Qingdao, China! The Prince Edward Island Fishers' Brand Lobster product is the basis of landing a $17 Million sales agreement between the PEI Fishermen's Association and Lanesync!

Click the following link to view more details:

www.undercurrentnews.com/2014/11/06/pei-lobstermen-sign-17m-sales-agreement-with-lanesync/

PEI lobstermen sign $17m sales agreement with Lanesync

The Prince Edward Island Fishers’ brand logo. Photo: Matt Whittaker/Undercurrent News
The Prince Edward Island Fishers’ brand logo. Photo: Matt Whittaker/Undercurrent News

November 6, 2014, 11:06 am
Matt Whittaker

QINGDAO, China — The Prince Edward Island Fishermen’s Association signed a deal Wednesday to sell $17m worth of lobster over three years to Wuhan Lanesync Supply Chain Management Co, said PEIFA president Craig Avery.

The group will sell about 2.5 million-3m pounds of Prince Edward Island Fishers’ brand blanched raw lobster to the chilled and frozen supply chain specialist, Avery told Undercurrent News Wednesday during the China Fishery & Seafood Expo, after a news conference where the deal was signed.

The lobster is being processed by Royal Star Foods, he said. A subsidiary of Tignish Fisheries Co-op Association Ltd, Royal Star claims to be PEI’s largest Atlantic lobster processor.

The fishery from where the lobster comes, which produces about 30m pounds a year, this week received Marine Stewardship Council certification, Avery said.

The lobster sales deal is indicative of growing Chinese demand for lobster as its middle class grows and as the introduction of lobster from the United States and Canada makes the crustaceans more accessible, David McGuire, seafood services manager with PEI’s Department of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Rural Development, told Undercurrent.

Prince Edward Island Fishermen’s Association unveiling the 3-year deal with Lanesync on Nov. 5. Photo: Matt Whittaker/ Undercurrent News

Prince Edward Island Fishermen’s Association president Craig Avery, left, and Wuhan Lanesync Supply Chain Management Co. CEO Changliang Zhu at a press conference at the Qingdao trade show announcing a three-year deal where PEIFA will sell $17m worth of lobster to Lanesync. Matt Whittaker/Undercurrent News

Lobster from Australia and New Zealand has been positioned as premium in China, he said.

But now, the more abundant species from the United States and Canada has opened lobster more to the middle class, McGuire said.

Read all our coverage from the China Fishery & Seafood Expo taking place in Qingdao this week on our blog here and on our dedicated page here.