April 21, 2016 — Thirty-two lobsters. Taken off the same shore in one day, and it’s a grand start toward a summer feast.
But picked out over a long stretch of coast in an eight-year period? That hardly warrants an absent-minded mention at the dinner table, much less an international trade incident.
But that’s just where Sweden is taking its find, as the country seeks to ban all imports of live American lobster into the European Union’s 28 member nations.
The ban would be a $10 million annual hit to the pockets of Maine lobstermen – and roughly $150 million for the U.S. industry as a whole – all over a number of bugs that would have a boat captain cursing if it were one day’s haul.
Sweden’s proposal, backed by dubious science and questionable motives, is now in front of the EU, which should reject the ban, and tell Sweden to find a solution much more on scale with the problem.