The Maritime seafood trade delegation that has been in Europe the past couple of weeks seems to have made some headway when it comes to potential new markets for their product in the face of U.S. tariff threats.
Nova Scotia Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture Kent Smith said some of the 14 companies on the trip have made new connections and he’s cautiously optimistic some of them might become buyers.
“The feedback that I’m getting here is that it’s worthwhile,” Smith said. “I don’t want to speak for the companies, but I can say on a high level there’s a couple that I’ve spoken to that have been really optimistic that this is going to translate into near future sales.”
The mission stopped in Italy and France and is now in London for the final leg of the trip.
Geoff Irvine, executive director of the Lobster Council of Canada, said if similar ventures to Asia in the past are any indication, this foray into Europe should hopefully bear some fruit.
“Well, success means sales,” Irvine said. “We survey these companies after these missions and get their feedback, and virtually all of them always say that they’ve had sales after the missions.”
Allan MacLean, CEO of Louisbourg Seafoods in Cape Breton, said the company’s participation in the trade mission has already led to some interest in their product.
“We’ve had some real interest in redfish and also whelk”, said MacLean, who noted Europe seems interested in Cape Breton lobster.
MacLean said the company recently sent a large quantity of product to Asia thanks to the success of a similar trade mission.
“We just shipped to the Philippines,” MacLean said. “A container of redfish. That’s the first time ever, and that was based on a trip similar to the one we’re on now - a trip we did a year ago. There is an appetite all throughout the world for Canadian seafood and, in particular, Nova Scotia seafood.”
While further trade missions elsewhere in the world are not planned yet, Irvine said he will be bringing home the message that, given the current political climate, more money should be spent on trade diversification.
“The Middle East is a growing market. I think we may do some more work there,” Irvine said.
