The state that supplies 90 percent of the U.S. lobster supply is trying to navigate the waters of an international food fight.
China, the world’s largest consumer and importer of the succulent crustacean, is shunning Maine for alternate sources.
Lobstermen and women from The Pine Tree State “are now missing out on Chinese sales amid a trade war, and they may struggle to claw back their former position as China increasingly turns to suppliers in the Asia-Pacific region,” according to the South China Morning Post.
U.S. lobster shipments to China temporarily ground to a halt earlier this year, after Beijing and Washington ramped up tariffs on each other’s goods in a string of tit-for-tat moves, Alexander Schultz, a Hong Kong seafood distributor, told the newspaper.
China recently dropped the duties on U.S. lobster by 25 percent, giving Maine’s exporters some breathing room.
But to hedge its bets against an uncertain future, the state’s lobster industry is trying to promote its products more at home – in Maine, first and across the U.S.
It may be a temporary fix at best.
American buyers cannot fully replace international demand, according to Julian Klenda, CEO of seafood company Maine Lobster Now.
“Domestic sales provide a buffer for Maine, but the scale and frequency of global demand, particularly from China, remain unmatched,” Klendra said.
Schultz said prices should gradually increase as sellers develop new domestic and e-commerce sales channels to offset declining exports.
