If Sweden gets its way, Canada鈥檚 lucrative lobster industry could lose a pretty important customer -- namely, all 28 countries in the European Union.
Sweden is petitioning the EU to ban imports of live North American lobsters after 32 of the foreign crustaceans were found in Swedish waters. Swedish officials fear the larger species could breed with European lobsters, spread disease and become an invasive species.
But Canadian lobster experts -- including the Lobster Council of Canada -- have been working hard to fight those claims in hopes of protecting vital jobs for Atlantic Canada.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a very important issue that could have a dramatic impact on our lobster industry, so we鈥檙e working on it every day,鈥� Geoff Irvine, executive director of the Lobster Council of Canada, told CTV Atlantic.
Lobstermen in the U.S. and Canada export roughly $200-million worth of lobster to European markets each year. Irvine says the Lobster Council of Canada is working closely with its American counterparts, European ambassadors and the Canadian government to keep sales open, and officials in Maine have said they plan to take the issue as far as the World Trade Organization if need be.
鈥淲e have a very aggressive advocacy strategy that we鈥檝e been doing all summer,鈥� Irvine said.
The proposed ban has been widely criticized by state leaders in Maine as an overreaction to less than three-dozen lobsters in Swedish waters. But Sweden's Agency for Marine and Water Management says its cautionary approach is 鈥渧ital鈥� and that the failure of North American lobsters thus far to spread throughout Europe is 鈥渘o guarantee鈥� that they won鈥檛 become invasive 鈥渋n another place or time."
A University of Maine scientist cast doubt on those claims in a recent paper, arguing that North American lobsters cannot reproduce in Europe because wintertime ocean temperatures are too warm.
Fishing advocates in Nova Scotia say they鈥檙e confident that this sort of research will help bolster their case before the EU鈥檚 Scientific Forum on Invasive Alien Species.
鈥淲e feel the science is on our side, that this is not an invasive species in Europe,鈥� said Leo Muise, executive director of the Nova Scotia Fish Packers Association.
Muise also suggested that European consumers could play a role in the debate.
鈥淭he Europeans that want to buy lobsters from Canada, they can鈥檛 be too happy that this is happening,鈥� he said.
A spokesperson from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans told CTV Atlantic in a statement that the government stands firmly beside Canada鈥檚 lobster industry and is working to maintain and expand markets.
The EU鈥檚 Scientific Forum on Invasive Alien Species is expected to release its decision on the proposed ban on Aug. 31. If approved, a ban would later require input from the World Trade Organization.
With files from CTV Atlantic and the Associated Press
