PORTLAND, Maine — August 4, 2012 — Maine and Canadian officials scrambled Friday to avert a border war over low-priced lobster, hoping a long holiday weekend in New Brunswick could help to defuse the tension.
Patrick Keliher, commissioner of Maine's Department of Marine Resources, said he talked with Michael Olscamp, Canada's minister of fisheries and agriculture, throughout Friday about protests by Canadian fishermen over shipments of Maine lobsters to Canada.
On Thursday, a truck driver carrying lobsters from Maine was detained for six hours in a protest by about 200 Canadian fishermen, who are upset that Maine lobster shipments are driving down prices at processing plants just before their fishing grounds reopen for lobstering.
"We're closing in on a resolution," Keliher said late Friday, with Canadian processors trying to reach a deal to offer a minimum price to lobstermen when the Northumberland Strait opens to them Aug. 9.
Keliher said the plants will be closed Monday, which is New Brunswick Day, so officials will have a little more time to work out a solution and avoid a repeat of Thursday, when the protests prompted three processing plants to shut down.
Maine lobstermen have been dealing with low prices for their catch all summer, since a glut of soft-shell lobsters flooded the market early in the season. Many have pinned their hopes on the Canadian processing plans to push prices higher.
Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald.