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.
Find out More About Victoria Co-operative Fisheries
Find out More About Louisbourg Seafoods
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.
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:Shaowei Xu: The ocean it's
crystal clear, lots of nature.
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:Of course the seafood is premium.
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:Michelle Samson: Throughout the series
we'll show you why there's never been
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:a better time to invest in Cape Breton.
7
:Osborne Burke: You get one
good relationship, one good
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:customer, you're off to the races.
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:Michelle Samson: Welcome back
to Invest in Cape Breton.
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:I'm your host, Michelle Samson.
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:In this episode, we're talking about
an industry with a long and rich
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:history in Unama'ki - Cape Breton.
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:Arguably, it's the island's oldest
industry, the very one that sustained
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:the Mi'kmaq for thousands of years
and brought Europeans to their shores.
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: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
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: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.
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:How are tariffs both real and potential
affecting local seafood exports?
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: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.
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:Victoria Co-operative Fisheries
are seafood harvesters
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:and processors since 1955.
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: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.
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:Before sailing into this turbulent
topic of trade, I wanted to find
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: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.
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:Unfortunately, we don't expect,
you're not gonna get the flip flop
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: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
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: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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: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
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:within Canada in prior years, and we
sell to a lot of local restaurants
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:within Atlantic Canada, but we have some
brokers we work with in Nova Scotia,
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: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
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:relationship with the customers there.
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:But I think we have a bigger market
because when I have conversation
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: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.
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:It's just suddenly with the
tariff, we have so many things
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:we want to try to make it work.
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:So for example, we have this flight coming
out from Sydney to Calgary in the summer.
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:we had a conversation with WestJet and
also the airport just to talk about using
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:their available rooms on the flights
to ship products to Alberta so that we
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: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
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: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
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: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
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: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
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:there any other avenues you're exploring
to try and bring those shipping costs
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:down or, or to make it make more sense?
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:Shaowei Xu: I think the goal is to, for
example, we have four to five processing
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:plants doing different products.
305
:One of the biggest challenges,
we have products coming from
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:different plant to ship out.
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:I was having the conversation with
one of our plant manager today, one
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:good thing would be having all these
customer resources, putting them
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:together, and understand, for example,
what shipments are going to certain
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:market in Canada anyway, and see if we
can align it with some other customers
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:who might want smaller quantity once
in a while to put them together.
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:That would help a lot
to bring down the cost.
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:Michelle Samson: Up until now,
we've been talking about market
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:diversification in terms of geography,
but within those conversations, both
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:Osborne and Shaowei have mentioned
that different regions have different
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:preferences for how they like their
seafood to be processed and packaged.
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:Some time ago, Victoria Co-operative
Fisheries recognize the opportunity
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:in diversifying their packaging.
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:Osborne says they've been
having some success with it.
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:Osborne Burke: This past year and
more this year, we've started focusing
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:on a retail pack, one or two pound.
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:In Shanghai, we're dealing
with Sam's Club, i.e.
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:Walmart, and they're very interested in
a retail bag of one pound or two pounds,
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: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.
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:Convenience.
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:Same in EU, probably one
pound is more convenient.
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: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.
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:And that means success
with those customers.
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:Michelle Samson: The co-op wasn't
psychic when they started down
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:this route a couple years ago.
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:They weren't thinking about
tariffs, but rather that quotas
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:could reduce in the future due to
climate change or other factors.
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:If the Co-op has less product to
work with, then the only way to keep
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:revenues up is to maximize value.
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:Osborne Burke: Why ship a lobster
out and sell it for $8 or $9 a
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:pound, or $10 a pound, when you
can process raw tails that probably
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:sell anywhere from $18 to $22 US?
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:Yes, there's a yield factor in
there, but you factor that into it.
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:The future is, a lot of it,
is value added and repacking.
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:A lot of snow crab comes
out of Atlantic Canada.
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: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.
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:Well, we can be doing more of that here.
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:There's benefits and revenue
and additional employment.
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:Putting product aside, repacking
it when the season's over.
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:So if you're gonna have less quota and get
as much as you can out of it, don't just
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:accept the old method of, we'll just ship
it out in a wholesale box and goodbye.
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: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.
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:We need to encourage more immigration is
what we need, but you know, government
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:at the same time is cutting down on the
number of folks immigrating in and that
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:presents a challenge to us as well.
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:Housing is the other major challenge.
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:Major challenge.
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:We've got rented houses that we rent
year round because we need to keep them.
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:We have homes that we've bought.
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:Most processors have become landlords.
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: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
420
: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
448
:industry, which we're part of.
449
:We haven't been successful yet,
but there's been some changes.
450
: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
452
:would be significant to assist us.
453
: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.
455
:Honestly, this surprised me.
456
: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?
458
:Osborne Burke: For the last four or five
months, the thought of 25% going into
459
:the spring has been a major challenge,
and believe me, if that 25% was in
460
:place, it would be a crisis situation.
461
:And so that's still a major focus.
462
:But we're still dealing with the
lack of housing, the requirements
463
:on our temporary foreign workers,
the lack of potential employees, no
464
:daycare, no public transportation.
465
:All those limitations
were there before Trump.
466
:They're still gonna be there.
467
:We're trying to deal with all of them.
468
:So every day we sit down in this
office, we got more than one challenge.
469
:Michelle Samson: I also asked Shaowei way
about the challenges Louisbourg Seafoods
470
:is facing and what kind of support he'd
like to see from government like Osborne.
471
:He mentioned workforce and that some
help on that front would be appreciated.
472
:He also hopes the federal government
can negotiate longer and more stable
473
:trade terms with other countries.
474
:But he also had a request that would
help Louisbourg Seafoods make the
475
:leap into new processing formats.
476
:Shaowei Xu: More investment into
the seafood industry to help us
477
:become more modern, that we can
compete with other leading seafood
478
:countries would be a great idea.
479
:For example, Norway, Iceland, they
are doing very well as well, and
480
:we are competing with them all
the time because we are catching
481
:similar products in Atlantic Ocean.
482
:Like, we rely on process one single way
to help to produce enough and maximize our
483
:efficiency . But with our plant current
setup and limited space, there are limited
484
:things we can do to adapt to new trends,
and we definitely need support here.
485
:Michelle Samson: Right.
486
:So you're talking about grants or
loans or, or that type of thing?
487
:Shaowei Xu: Yeah.
488
:And even like some support on, for
example, technology or some research
489
:to help us to understand what could
be done to help us to adapt to it.
490
:Those would be really big
support from the government.
491
:I'm not greedy.
492
:I think those two would be good enough.
493
:Michelle Samson: After hearing about
all of those challenges, it would be
494
:easy to be overcome with pessimism.
495
:But is that how two of
Unama'ki - Cape Breton's seafood
496
:companies are really feeling?
497
:I asked Shaowei and Osborne
about their confidence in the
498
:future of the seafood industry.
499
:Let's start with Shaowei's answer.
500
:Shaowei Xu: We have this
conversation in the company a lot.
501
:I think we have lots of
talented people in the company.
502
:We have lots of people working have
great experience, great expertise.
503
:And for industry like us, we always have
challenges and every year is different.
504
:So this is just another year.
505
:We have more issues we need to
deal with, although it is maybe
506
:bigger and harder to deal with.
507
:But I think with all the talents we
have in the company, all the people
508
:who are working hard trying to make it
work, and that we are thinking about
509
:the issues and facing it all the time.
510
:I think we will make it work.
511
:Michelle Samson: As for Victoria
Co-op Fisheries, it'll be marking
512
:its 70th anniversary soon.
513
:Tariffs may be the crisis of the moment,
but Osborne says it has weathered
514
: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.
517
:I promise it's relevant.
518
:Osborne Burke: Well, back in 92,
you know, crisis in the groundfish.
519
:Oh, what are we gonna do?
520
:They pivot to the focus,
let's put some equipment in.
521
:Let's look at processing
shellfish instead of just buying
522
:it live and shipping it out.
523
:And that was a decision at the time
by a volunteer board of directors
524
:and the manager driving that.
525
:Very similarly when we saw other changes
in processing, putting in more modern
526
:equipment, more efficient equipment,
because we have aging workforce.
527
:Another example.
528
:2021, we decided to upgrade our
lobster pound, looking at reducing cost
529
:overall, and close all our facilities
inside structures so they weren't
530
:susceptible to wind, rain, and weather.
531
:Then along came September,
:
532
:We were the only processing facility,
the major one that was impacted in
533
:Nova Scotia to the tune of about $10
million damage that we had to rebuild.
534
:Some people thought when the
second floor was hanging down on
535
:the first floor and the entire
walls were missing that it's over.
536
: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
538
:we were going to, but we did.
539
: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
541
:better prepared than we ever were.
542
: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
547
: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.
552
:So having a crisis in the
afternoon, the morning, this evening
553
:probably be something new again,
let's just water off our backs.
554
:We're gonna just keep
plugging ahead, not look back.
555
:So I guess we're, we're fairly
resilient and we're used to
556
:responding to whatever we gotta do.
557
:Michelle Samson: Now that's a
hopeful note worth finishing on.
558
:Thanks so much to Shaowei Xu of
Louisbourg Seafoods and Osborne Burke
559
:of Victoria Co-operative Fisheries.
560
:Check out the show notes for links to
find out more about both companies.
561
: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.
566
:Thanks for listening.