The seafood industry has a long and rich history in Unama'ki - Cape Breton. The island exports an estimated $342 million dollars worth of lobster, snow crab, and other species, much of it processed by the island's eleven active processing facilities. How are tariffs—both real and potential—affecting local seafood exports? How are processors navigating market uncertainty? What are the opportunities hiding in this crisis? In Episode 7 of Invest in Cape Breton, Victoria Co-op Fisheries General Manager Osborne Burke and Louisbourg Seafoods Sales Manager Shaowei Xu lend their insights.

This episode is brought to you by Victoria Co-op Fisheries, seafood harvesters and processors since 1955. Their progressive Cape Breton co-op works with community harvesters to bring the freshest, tastiest seafood to markets all over the world.

• 01:58 Unama'ki - Cape Breton Seafood: Premium and Sustainable
• 04:49 Impact of Chinese Tariffs on Local Seafood Exports
• 07:31 Impact of U.S. Tariff Threats on Canadian Seafood
• 10:27 Strategies for International and Interprovincial Market Diversification
• 19:01 Processing and Packaging Innovations
• 21:31 Challenges in Adopting New Processing Capacity
• 23:03 Labour and Housing Challenges
• 25:35 How Government Could Support the Seafood Industry
• 29:34 Shaowei and Osborne’s Outlooks For the Future of Local Seafood

Find out More About Victoria Co-operative Fisheries

• Victoria Co-operative Fisheries website: victoriafish.com
• Victoria Co-operative Fisheries YouTube: youtube.com/@vcflseafood

Find out More About Louisbourg Seafoods

• Louisbourg Seafoods website: louisbourgseafoods.ca
• Louisbourg Seafoods Facebook: facebook.com/louisbourgseafoods
• Louisbourg Seafoods Instagram: instagram.com/lsbgseafoods

About the Invest in Cape Breton podcast

Unama'ki-Cape Breton is on the cusp of an economic renaissance. Invest in Cape Breton is a podcast that will challenge your assumptions about the island’s economy through in-depth interviews with local changemakers. We go beyond the headlines to reveal the untapped potential for investors and entrepreneurs, and offer a preview of the island’s coming transformation. Right from the first episode, we’ll show you why there's never been a better time to invest in Cape Breton.

This podcast is an initiative of the Cape Breton Partnership. It is hosted by Michelle Samson and produced by Storied Places Media. The theme music is "Under My Skin" by Elyse Aeryn.

It's an exciting time to be in Unama'ki- Cape Breton.

2

We're having an economic Renaissance.

3

Shaowei Xu: The ocean it's

crystal clear, lots of nature.

4

Of course the seafood is premium.

5

Michelle Samson: Throughout the series

we'll show you why there's never been

6

a better time to invest in Cape Breton.

7

Osborne Burke: You get one

good relationship, one good

8

customer, you're off to the races.

9

Michelle Samson: Welcome back

to Invest in Cape Breton.

10

I'm your host, Michelle Samson.

11

In this episode, we're talking about

an industry with a long and rich

12

history in Unama'ki - Cape Breton.

13

Arguably, it's the island's oldest

industry, the very one that sustained

14

the Mi'kmaq for thousands of years

and brought Europeans to their shores.

15

If you haven't guessed the industry

yet, it's none other than seafood.

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The island exports an estimated

$342 million worth of lobster, snow

17

crab, and other species, much of

it processed by one of the island's

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eleven active processing facilities.

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Now, a lot could be said about this

key industry, but this episode will

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focus on the timely issue of trade.

21

How are tariffs both real and potential

affecting local seafood exports?

22

How are processors navigating

the market uncertainty?

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What are the opportunities

hiding in this crisis?

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We put these questions to two guests.

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The first is Shaowei Xu, the Sales

Manager for Louisbourg Seafoods

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home of Mira Bay seafood products.

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It's a family operated seafood

producer and wholesaler with

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its own fleet of vessels.

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Our other guest is Osborne Burke,

the General Manager of Victoria

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Co-operative Fisheries, which has

generously sponsored this episode.

31

Victoria Co-operative Fisheries

are seafood harvesters

32

and processors since 1955.

33

Their progressive Cape Breton co-op

works with community harvesters to

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bring the freshest, tastiest seafood

to markets all over the world.

35

Before sailing into this turbulent

topic of trade, I wanted to find

36

out why the world is so eager to

buy Unama'ki - Cape Breton seafood.

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I wasn't too surprised to

discover that it's considered

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'premium' in the global market.

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This Cape Bretoner from a fishing

community has long believed

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that we have the best seafood.

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But I still wanted to know why.

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Osborne says we have this distinction

thanks to our clean environment.

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Osborne Burke: We used to go to the trade

show and carry hundreds of pamphlets.

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Now we take a USB stick with a video

on it, and we hand it off to the

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customer and they're very impressed.

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They see our operation from the

vessel, through to the truck

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going over Cape Smokey on its

way outta town with the product.

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And we tell 'em we're in a pretty area,

no heavy industrial development, pristine

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coastline, very sustainable fishery

that's been around for hundreds of years.

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All those combined give

us a unique advantage.

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Michelle Samson: Shaowei underscored

Osborne's point with some additional

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detail drawn from his experience

traveling Asia and selling our

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seafood to international markets.

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Shaowei Xu: For someone from China, it's

a very easy to tell a visual difference.

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Like when I flew out of Shanghai

or Beijing, when I see the ocean,

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it doesn't look blue at all.

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It's gray.

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It's really not appealing.

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And then when you look at that water,

um, I think after you see the ocean

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here around Cape Breton, it's crystal

clear, lots of nature, and there's no

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major, like big pollution or anything.

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Of course the seafood is premium.

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At the same time we have this cold water,

which make the seafood taste better.

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They usually have more fats

because of the cold water.

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So they have this sweetness

and sometimes stronger flavor

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that people like on seafood.

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Michelle Samson: So, basically

my bias is confirmed.

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Further confirmation can be found in

the fact that many of our processors,

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including Victoria Co-op and Louisbourg

Seafoods, have earned sustainability

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certifications like those from the

Marine Stewardship Council, or MSC.

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I asked Shaowei if these certifications

are important in his sales conversations.

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Shaowei Xu: It is very important.

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Like many of the client, let's

say for example, new sales we

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made in Singapore and Philippines,

which were very exciting for us.

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Without MSC, we couldn't make it work.

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That was the first question they asked.

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Like, do you have it?

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If not, we cannot buy your product.

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So that's very, very essential for

us to open a door for some markets.

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Same as Europe.

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When we go to Europe.

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MSC is mentioned all the time,

pretty much 99% of the clients,

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they will say, we need MSC products.

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That's essential.

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For the US we see more

growing demand for this.

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Michelle Samson: So the

island is exporting high

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quality, sustainable product.

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But where is it all going?

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Currently, over 85% of Cape Breton

seafood exports go to the US.

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Since January, the US has been threatening

tariffs on everything, including seafood.

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As of this recording in May, 2025,

the threats haven't materialized yet.

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However, China, another important

market, did lay a 25% tariff on

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Canadian seafood in March of 2025.

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Shaowei says this tariff is already

having an impact on Louisbourg Seafoods.

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Shaowei Xu: Our main products

we have been selling to China is

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lobster, whelk, and the sea cucumber.

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And for lobster, we probably have,

especially for processed one, we almost

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have 70 to 80% of products going to China.

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Uh, for whelk, we almost have

90% of products going to China.

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And sea cucumber, we have 50%

of our products going to China,

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sometimes more, sometimes less.

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But with this 25% tariff, it's gonna be

a huge impact, especially with a ongoing

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economy issue, like high inflation and

China have this deflation pressure.

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We have seen like the

market start to shrink.

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Customers in China start

to pick cheaper products.

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Our seafood price have been

struggling to sell to China already,

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and this 25% just gonna be pushing

everything out of the limit.

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Michelle Samson: For Victoria

Co-operative Fisheries, China isn't a

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major buyer, but Osborne says they'll

likely still be affected indirectly.

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Osborne Burke: We may sell to another

buyer in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick,

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even into the state of Maine.

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They would then repack the lobsters

and do air freight, which we don't do.

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We're too far from the airport,

and they would ship to China.

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Now, with that tariff, it's going to

be a challenge because the Chinese

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customer is gonna have to absorb that.

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Whether or not the Chinese

customer can, I don't know.

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Everybody's, I think, hoping

that things can get resolved.

118

Unfortunately, we don't expect,

you're not gonna get the flip flop

119

on tariffs as you have from USA.

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China is more focused.

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They have a tariff on, and that was

in retaliation for Canada following

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USA on the hundred percent tariff on

EV vehicles, and I think on aluminum

123

seal at the time last year, last fall.

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So China is not one to

forgive or forget quickly.

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I believe this tariffs will stay

against Canada from China for

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quite a while, unless something

significantly happens again with the US.

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But there's quite a battle

going on there as well.

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Michelle Samson: Meanwhile, Canadians

and Americans that rely on trade are

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waiting to see what the US does next.

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Osborne says no one, from either side

of the border, wants a seafood tariff.

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Osborne Burke: Our USA customers

are as frustrated as we are.

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They're apologetic to us apologizing for

the, uh, Mar-a-Lago bully and his actions.

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They can't understand because

it's harming them as well.

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And so they're as frustrated

if not more than we are, and

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so they are not the enemy.

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The USA customers are not the enemy.

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They're having their hardships.

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They can't absorb a 25%

tariff, neither can we.

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So it's kind of a partnership there.

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We'll work together

and see what we can do.

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Michelle Samson: For Louisbourg

Seafoods, the potential US tariff

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has been a top concern since the

first threat back in January.

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Real or not, they knew

they needed to prepare.

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Shaowei Xu: Our snow crab, one of our

biggest commodity we do, the main market

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is in the US and it started in March.

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So, we were really nervous and even now we

are still producing every day and shipping

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the snow crab to the US all the time.

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Where if anytime if there's a

tariff, then it's gonna be bad

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because over 90, probably 95 or 98%

of the snow crab goes to the US.

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So if there's a tariff, it's very

hard for us to reacting right away.

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It's not just, for example,

we have to find a new home.

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It's also because other markets might

prefer the snow crab in a different form.

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Lots of them are asking for snow

crab meat, which we don't do.

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We mainly do the sections, clusters.

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So it's a shoulder with a legs.

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But then, when we talked with

the customers in Europe, lots of

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them want meat, or in retail bag.

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And then for China, lots of

them want the whole snow crab.

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They don't want it to be split already,

and lots of them want the fresh one.

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For Japan, it's similar.

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They want the whole frozen one.

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They don't want it to be

processed or clustered

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So it's hard when our plant is structured

or designed to do the clusters to supply

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to our biggest trading partner, and

suddenly now we have to change everything.

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It's really hard.

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Michelle Samson: So, what is there

that Unama'ki - Cape Breton seafood

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producers can do to counteract these

tariffs and to be more resilient?

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169

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176

Back to our question of what seafood

producers can do to counteract tariffs.

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Both of our guests say step

one is market diversification.

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Shaowei says Louisbourg.

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Seafoods has been on it since,

well before Trump's second term.

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Shaowei Xu: For the past two or

three years, we have been going to

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different trade missions including,

Vietnam, Thailand, South Korea,

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Taiwan, Hong Kong, uh, Philippines.

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We went to Singapore last September.

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We did a trade mission

in February to Europe.

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We went to Italy, France, and the UK.

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So we have been doing this already

as a way to diversify and also to

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find a new market for our products.

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But now it's just with this ongoing

tariff and tariff threats, somehow

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it's not a long-term strategy anymore.

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It's a emergent need.

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Like, usually when we go to

Boston and Barcelona, we see a

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lot of our regular customers.

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They might be in US or China or

the regular places we sold to, but

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this time, our focus is different.

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We send lots of email out to the people

we might know that could potentially be an

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interesting customer for the new markets

to tell them that we will be in the trade

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show, we would like to see you, we could

even visit you and have the conversation

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and hopefully we can build something.

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Michelle Samson: For Victoria Co-operative

Fisheries, 65% of their product is going

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to the US right now, and the other 35% is

split between Canada, Asia, and Europe.

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If things go as planned, Osborne says

that split could shift significantly.

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Osborne Burke: Our focus right

now in the next preferably three

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years, maximum five, to reverse that

percentage to be 65 anywhere but the US.

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Reduce our eggs all in one

basket because I think the

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trust level is gone with the US.

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No matter what we say, it's

never gonna be the same.

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You know, it was the easy

market dumping into the US.

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But now, eyes wide open, we're

realizing, hey, we can't just do that.

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And so we're gonna focus more

on Canada, more on Asia, and

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beating down the doors in Europe.

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Early May this year, I'll be in Barcelona.

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There's 15 Nova Scotia companies

that'll be participating in Barcelona,

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along with rest of Atlantic Canada.

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But we're looking to

build more relationships.

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Just recently at the Boston Show,

we have two French companies we're

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dealing with now that have potential.

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And uh, we got a new customer from

Hong Kong who bought from us last year.

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I'll be in the trade show in early June

in South Korea, late June in Taipei.

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Our raw frozen lobster tails,

generally that's a US market.

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With our other sales export person, we

sold to South Korea at about a $1.50

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US a pound better.

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Michelle Samson: Are there any

barriers at all to, uh, to doing

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more of any of these things?

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Or is the demand there

and you just gotta do it?

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Osborne Burke: Uh, don't

see a lot of barriers.

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Talk South Korea, we have

a free trade agreement.

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You talk EU, we have a

free trade agreement.

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with some of the areas in Asia,

the government's been working

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on various trade agreements.

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So you don't see a lot of barriers there.

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I think the opportunities are there

and you gotta take advantage of them.

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So we need to be more at these trade

shows, which costs money to get to, but

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you're making the connections and once

you seem to establish yourself, if you're

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talking Southeast Asia, pick whether you

wanna pick Vietnam or you want to pick

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Taiwan, you don't need five customers.

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You get one good relationship, one good

customer, the amount of population that's

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there, and the amount of consumption

of seafood, you just wanna make sure

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you make those connections and you

have the right customer to deal with.

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Once you establish that relationship,

you're off to the races.

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Michelle Samson: Shaowei echoes the

importance of relationships when

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it comes to international business.

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Louisbourg Seafoods is putting boots on

the ground to tap into emerging markets.

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Shaowei Xu: I think there

are a lot of opportunities.

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The main challenge for

international business always

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about building the relationship.

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Based on the business we have done,

I really think, for example, South

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Asia is a big market to explore.

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Their economy is growing really fast.

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Their population is very, very young,

and they love premium seafoods.

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And same as Europe.

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We don't sell a lot to Europe, but we

see this massive growth over the past

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two or three years just for the lobster.

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So, I think we have lots

of places we can explore.

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We have new sales in Singapore and

the Philippines very recently, which

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give us a confidence that we could

explore more because there's not only

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Philippines or Singapore in South Asia.

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We visited Vietnam and Thailand.

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Uh, the conversation we had

with some customers, they are

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doing huge volume on products.

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It's just, we are not

still working together yet.

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Michelle Samson: So there are lots

of opportunities in international

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markets, but what about here at home?

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I asked Osborne if he's seeing any

potential in interprovincial trade.

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Osborne Burke: Well, I think the

opportunities we could have sold more

265

within Canada in prior years, and we

sell to a lot of local restaurants

266

within Atlantic Canada, but we have some

brokers we work with in Nova Scotia,

267

New Brunswick and PEI that we could have

sold twice as much last year to Canada.

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Michelle Samson: Shaowei sees

opportunities within Canada too.

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He's been exploring them

for the past few years.

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Shaowei Xu: I was in Toronto last November

and, uh, we start to have built more

271

relationship with the customers there.

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But I think we have a bigger market

because when I have conversation

273

with these clients, when I actually

visit them, I was surprised to see

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some of them have their own cold

storage and it has lots of products.

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They are doing many containers of products

from elsewhere, outside Canada too.

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So I always think there is

a big market within Canada.

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And that's something we have

been also trying to work on.

278

It's just suddenly with the

tariff, we have so many things

279

we want to try to make it work.

280

So for example, we have this flight coming

out from Sydney to Calgary in the summer.

281

we had a conversation with WestJet and

also the airport just to talk about using

282

their available rooms on the flights

to ship products to Alberta so that we

283

will have our seafood in the west cold.

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And then we have been growing ourselves

in Toronto, in Ontario, and I'm also

285

trying to see if we can make it work

to sell more products to BC which,

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like it's quite a long distance.

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Michelle Samson: So do you feel like

that is just a matter of pounding the

288

pavement, like the demand is there,

you just have to find the right people?

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Shaowei Xu: The demand is there.

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We just need to find the right partners,

right clients in the market, and find

291

the best solution to make it work.

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Because the shipping cost would

be the biggest challenge here.

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Uh, we might be in the market so that

the clients might think it would be easy

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for them to just not order containers.

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For example, when we ship to

China or ship to US, it's always

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truckloads or containers by sea.

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So it's a huge volume.

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But then we see customers in Canada

might want to order a few pallets.

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However, the challenge is that if we do

that way, the shipping cost is too high.

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Michelle Samson: Okay, so hence, looking

for that space on airplanes and, um, are

301

there any other avenues you're exploring

to try and bring those shipping costs

302

down or, or to make it make more sense?

303

Shaowei Xu: I think the goal is to, for

example, we have four to five processing

304

plants doing different products.

305

One of the biggest challenges,

we have products coming from

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different plant to ship out.

307

I was having the conversation with

one of our plant manager today, one

308

good thing would be having all these

customer resources, putting them

309

together, and understand, for example,

what shipments are going to certain

310

market in Canada anyway, and see if we

can align it with some other customers

311

who might want smaller quantity once

in a while to put them together.

312

That would help a lot

to bring down the cost.

313

Michelle Samson: Up until now,

we've been talking about market

314

diversification in terms of geography,

but within those conversations, both

315

Osborne and Shaowei have mentioned

that different regions have different

316

preferences for how they like their

seafood to be processed and packaged.

317

Some time ago, Victoria Co-operative

Fisheries recognize the opportunity

318

in diversifying their packaging.

319

Osborne says they've been

having some success with it.

320

Osborne Burke: This past year and

more this year, we've started focusing

321

on a retail pack, one or two pound.

322

In Shanghai, we're dealing

with Sam's Club, i.e.

323

Walmart, and they're very interested in

a retail bag of one pound or two pounds,

324

readily available for the customer.

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Fancy bag, nice color pictures.

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MSC logo, BRC certification on it.

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Where you just tear the

top, it's already cooked.

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They can either warm it or they

can thaw out and eat it cold.

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Convenience.

330

Convenience.

331

Same in EU, probably one

pound is more convenient.

332

They want something they

can readily pick up.

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People can't afford to buy a 30 pound box.

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If they come to us and they want it in

a one pound, a half pound bag, a five

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pound bag, we're gonna say very quickly,

yes, we'll make it work with you.

336

And that means success

with those customers.

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Michelle Samson: The co-op wasn't

psychic when they started down

338

this route a couple years ago.

339

They weren't thinking about

tariffs, but rather that quotas

340

could reduce in the future due to

climate change or other factors.

341

If the Co-op has less product to

work with, then the only way to keep

342

revenues up is to maximize value.

343

Osborne Burke: Why ship a lobster

out and sell it for $8 or $9 a

344

pound, or $10 a pound, when you

can process raw tails that probably

345

sell anywhere from $18 to $22 US?

346

Yes, there's a yield factor in

there, but you factor that into it.

347

The future is, a lot of it,

is value added and repacking.

348

A lot of snow crab comes

out of Atlantic Canada.

349

It goes to either Vietnam or it

goes to China, it's reprocessed

350

into meat in a fancy pack for Japan,

for Europe, maybe back to the USA.

351

Well, we can be doing more of that here.

352

There's benefits and revenue

and additional employment.

353

Putting product aside, repacking

it when the season's over.

354

So if you're gonna have less quota and get

as much as you can out of it, don't just

355

accept the old method of, we'll just ship

it out in a wholesale box and goodbye.

356

Michelle Samson: Louisbourg Seafoods

recognizes the opportunity in processing

357

lobster and crab down to just the meat.

358

However, doing so isn't

without its challenges.

359

Shaowei Xu: We had this conversation,

but this is gonna be hard because it

360

needs equipment, and then the employees

are not, uh, familiar with how to do it.

361

If we are not doing it right, then

the meat yield might potentially be

362

lower than the standard, that way we

are not making it profitable anyway.

363

And it takes time to get the right

equipments, and also we might

364

not have the space in the plants.

365

So, this is something we can't

really just change overnight.

366

It could be a long term goal.

367

Let's say if we see the trend,

we have seen, for example, retail

368

products becoming more popular.

369

So we see this trend and that's what

we are trying to move forward to.

370

But it takes time.

371

It takes time to doing research.

372

It takes time to understand which

way would be the best thing to

373

do, what equipment would fit us.

374

So if we see a trend saying like the

lobster meets or retail processed

375

snow crab gonna be more popular in

the next five or 10 years, we gonna

376

try everything to understand, learn,

and then trying to adapt to it.

377

Michelle Samson: There are other

challenges to consider too, despite

378

the promise of processing, Nova

Scotia has seen some crab and lobster

379

processors close down in recent years.

380

Osborne says the Co-op has had to

find solutions for difficult obstacles

381

that have nothing to do with tariffs.

382

Osborne Burke: Some of the

challenges is labour workforce.

383

We're limited in a rural area here.

384

Currently, this year, we have got

approved for 36 temporary foreign workers.

385

We'll have 35, one we couldn't

get the paperwork finalized.

386

That's very costly, $225,000

before they work one hour.

387

The answer isn't temporary

workers every year.

388

We need to encourage more immigration is

what we need, but you know, government

389

at the same time is cutting down on the

number of folks immigrating in and that

390

presents a challenge to us as well.

391

Housing is the other major challenge.

392

Major challenge.

393

We've got rented houses that we rent

year round because we need to keep them.

394

We have homes that we've bought.

395

Most processors have become landlords.

396

And uh, we have a manor here

that's waiting on tender

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for the new one to be built.

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We're trying to acquire the

old facility and renovate it

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to have more accommodations.

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Out back of our facility here, maybe

buying a couple of used mini homes.

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If we can get three of them out there,

and get them installed for next year,

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we can put another nine workers.

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Right now we have 70 applications from

CBU at the job fair, but we don't have

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anywhere for anyone to stay . And when

we look at our CBU students, our workers

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from Newfoundland, and our temporary

workers from Mexico that represents

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probably 50 to 60% of our workforce.

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Would we prefer to hire locally?

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Absolutely.

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But everybody we've got locally,

we've got employed in our area.

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We just did presentation at the

high school for grade 10, 11, and 12

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talking with potential careers here.

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We're not paying minimum wage,

we're paying well above that.

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You know, I told them, we'll

welcome you in and we'll train you.

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But we're here in Neil's Harbour.

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There's no public transportation.

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How are they gonna get to work?

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And then if you have a single mom

on social assistance with children,

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they're hopefully getting something done

with daycare, but daycare is minimal.

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Then we have an EI system where I argue

if somebody's making $400 on EI, they

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should be allowed to at least make that

equivalent before they're penalized.

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For every hour they work or every

two hours to work, they lose an hour.

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There's a disincentive for

people to come to work.

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So there's a lot of these challenges

that government locally and

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provincially need to look at to

see what they can do to assist us.

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Michelle Samson: Is there any one

particular thing from what you just

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said, that, you know, if they were

to start with one priority, what

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would you suggest they start with?

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Osborne Burke: Well, industry

in general has been effectively

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lobbying with the federal government.

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If you look at the temporary

worker program, there's been

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some flexibility with it.

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But for 36 applicants, we pay a

$36,000 application fee, non-refundable

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if we don't get approved.

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If we're a good player that's been

playing by the rules, why can't

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we have a three year approval?

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Every year we start in August with

what they call an LMIA, Labour

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Market Information Assessment.

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And we've got to hire immigration

consultants, we've gotta go

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through that process and apply.

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And then by January or

February we get our approval.

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But if we had a three year approval

then we'd only have to pay the

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fee once, we wouldn't have to make

applications three times a year.

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And that's really

challenging for companies.

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We have an immigration consultant we're

working with, actually through the Cape

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Breton Partnership we invested in that

and it's paying us dividends as investors.

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At the same time, if the federal

government would relax some of

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those rules, we're trying to get a

separate program for the AgriFood

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industry, which we're part of.

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We haven't been successful yet,

but there's been some changes.

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So we recruit where we can locally,

recruit within Nova Scotia, but

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housing and like the temporary foreign

worker program, some of those changes

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would be significant to assist us.

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Michelle Samson: I'm not sure if

you noticed, but throughout this

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interview, Osborne was remarkably

calm about the topic of tariffs.

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Honestly, this surprised me.

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So after hearing about this laundry

list of challenges that had nothing to

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do with Trump, I decided to ask, point

blank, is he concerned about US tariffs?

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Osborne Burke: For the last four or five

months, the thought of 25% going into

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the spring has been a major challenge,

and believe me, if that 25% was in

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place, it would be a crisis situation.

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And so that's still a major focus.

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But we're still dealing with the

lack of housing, the requirements

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on our temporary foreign workers,

the lack of potential employees, no

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daycare, no public transportation.

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All those limitations

were there before Trump.

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They're still gonna be there.

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We're trying to deal with all of them.

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So every day we sit down in this

office, we got more than one challenge.

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Michelle Samson: I also asked Shaowei way

about the challenges Louisbourg Seafoods

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is facing and what kind of support he'd

like to see from government like Osborne.

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He mentioned workforce and that some

help on that front would be appreciated.

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He also hopes the federal government

can negotiate longer and more stable

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trade terms with other countries.

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But he also had a request that would

help Louisbourg Seafoods make the

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leap into new processing formats.

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Shaowei Xu: More investment into

the seafood industry to help us

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become more modern, that we can

compete with other leading seafood

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countries would be a great idea.

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For example, Norway, Iceland, they

are doing very well as well, and

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we are competing with them all

the time because we are catching

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similar products in Atlantic Ocean.

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Like, we rely on process one single way

to help to produce enough and maximize our

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efficiency . But with our plant current

setup and limited space, there are limited

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things we can do to adapt to new trends,

and we definitely need support here.

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Michelle Samson: Right.

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So you're talking about grants or

loans or, or that type of thing?

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Shaowei Xu: Yeah.

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And even like some support on, for

example, technology or some research

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to help us to understand what could

be done to help us to adapt to it.

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Those would be really big

support from the government.

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I'm not greedy.

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I think those two would be good enough.

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Michelle Samson: After hearing about

all of those challenges, it would be

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easy to be overcome with pessimism.

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But is that how two of

Unama'ki - Cape Breton's seafood

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companies are really feeling?

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I asked Shaowei and Osborne

about their confidence in the

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future of the seafood industry.

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Let's start with Shaowei's answer.

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Shaowei Xu: We have this

conversation in the company a lot.

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I think we have lots of

talented people in the company.

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We have lots of people working have

great experience, great expertise.

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And for industry like us, we always have

challenges and every year is different.

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So this is just another year.

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We have more issues we need to

deal with, although it is maybe

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bigger and harder to deal with.

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But I think with all the talents we

have in the company, all the people

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who are working hard trying to make it

work, and that we are thinking about

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the issues and facing it all the time.

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I think we will make it work.

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Michelle Samson: As for Victoria

Co-op Fisheries, it'll be marking

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its 70th anniversary soon.

513

Tariffs may be the crisis of the moment,

but Osborne says it has weathered

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many storms, both figurative and

literal, over the last seven decades.

515

We're almost at the end of this

episode, but bear with me for

516

this brief history of the co-op.

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I promise it's relevant.

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Osborne Burke: Well, back in 92,

you know, crisis in the groundfish.

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Oh, what are we gonna do?

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They pivot to the focus,

let's put some equipment in.

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Let's look at processing

shellfish instead of just buying

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it live and shipping it out.

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And that was a decision at the time

by a volunteer board of directors

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and the manager driving that.

525

Very similarly when we saw other changes

in processing, putting in more modern

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equipment, more efficient equipment,

because we have aging workforce.

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Another example.

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2021, we decided to upgrade our

lobster pound, looking at reducing cost

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overall, and close all our facilities

inside structures so they weren't

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susceptible to wind, rain, and weather.

531

Then along came September,

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We were the only processing facility,

the major one that was impacted in

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Nova Scotia to the tune of about $10

million damage that we had to rebuild.

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Some people thought when the

second floor was hanging down on

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the first floor and the entire

walls were missing that it's over.

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Well, no, we're a very resilient bunch in

the co-op and in the fishery in general.

537

Mind you, there was days where

we's wake up wondering whether

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we were going to, but we did.

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So not only did we focus on rebuilding,

but building back better, stronger,

540

'cause the next time Fiona's

sister or brother arrives, we're

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better prepared than we ever were.

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Michelle Samson: So these are, these are

complex times, they're challenging times.

543

You're facing a lot of

different headwinds.

544

How confident are you, how optimistic

are you about the resilience of the

545

Cape Breton seafood industry and

Victoria Co-operative Fisheries?

546

Osborne Burke: I have to say I'm very

confident or I would be packed up and gone

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outta here, and the rest of us as well.

548

We're used to challenges

every day of the week.

549

We're waiting a piston that went.

550

We've got a guy down there pushing

the baskets through, three baskets

551

every 70 seconds, until that

piston is in here next week.

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So having a crisis in the

afternoon, the morning, this evening

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probably be something new again,

let's just water off our backs.

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We're gonna just keep

plugging ahead, not look back.

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So I guess we're, we're fairly

resilient and we're used to

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responding to whatever we gotta do.

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Michelle Samson: Now that's a

hopeful note worth finishing on.

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Thanks so much to Shaowei Xu of

Louisbourg Seafoods and Osborne Burke

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of Victoria Co-operative Fisheries.

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Check out the show notes for links to

find out more about both companies.

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New episodes of Invest in

Cape Breton are coming soon.

562

Hit that follow button on Apple Podcasts

or Spotify to be notified when it drops.

563

Our theme music is Under My Skin

by Glace Bay's own Elyse Aeryn.

564

Invest in Cape Breton is produced

by Storied Places Media , a

565

proudly Cape Breton owned business

operated by me, Michelle Samson.

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Thanks for listening.