Global Maritimes – Seafood producers more concerned for Japan than exports

Seafood producers more concerned for Japan than exports
Despite Japan being a big client for Nova Scotia seafood, east coast processors and producers won’t feel the effects of last week’s disaster for some time.
Nick Logan, Global Maritimes: Thursday, March 17, 2011

HALIFAX, N.S. – With five per cent of Nova Scotia’s seafood exports going to Japan, processing companies are keeping a close eye on the country’s recovery.

It’s not the bottom line they’re concerned with, the safety of friends and colleagues is priority number one.

Local seafood processors won’t feel the effects of last week’s disaster for some time, if at all.

It’s too early to tell what effect the disaster will have on sales of fish and shellfish products, but that won’t be felt for some time, says the senior manager of Louisbourg Seafoods in Glace Bay.

The company sends about 100,000 pounds of snow crab to Japan each year, Derrick Kennedy says.

He anticipates an effect on the industry, but Louisbourg doesn’t usually begin shipping to Japan until September.

“There’s no doubt that when our snow crab season is open, the Japanese are in buying lots of product,” he explains. “If that slows, that could have a negative impact on the market price.”

The Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture isn’t prepared to speculate how the situation will affect the province.

Nova Soctia exported $38 million of seafood products to Japan in 2009 – primarily lobster, crab and herring – but the department’s communications director Celeste Sulliman says the United States imported $510 million of fish and seafood that same year.

“We know how important this resource industry is,” she says. “The seafood industry (in Nova Scotia) has seen ups and downs and they’re a very resilient bunch.”

One of the region’s largest producers, Clearwater Seafoods, saw only moderate delays in shipments at the end of last week when planes were backlogged coming into Tokyo-Narita airport following the earthquake.

CEO Ian Smith says he was “surprised” how little business has been affected. “It’s business as usual.”

Japan can’t survive without food coming in.

The Japanese Ministry of Health says the country relies on imports for roughly 60 per cent of the food it requires to feed its population of 126 million.

If there is some sort of disruption to air and sea service, Smith assures there are back up options to get shipments into the country.

Tokyo isn’t the only gateway Clearwater and other exporters use: Cargo can be diverted to Osaka, Kobe and cities further south if need be.

There are some freight restrictions heading into Japan and travelling domestically, by road and rail, within the country.

Some air carriers have opted to cancel flights to Narita International Airport or have limited cargo shipments to emergency medical supplies but even those limitations are starting to ease.

“The fear is,” Mike Wolthers says, “it’ll get stuck and not get through customs, not be able to be handled.”

Exporters like Wolther’s employer, Kintetsu World Express, need to keep tabs on electricity powering the cold-storage facilities where their product is headed.

The Japanese government has ordered rolling blackouts to cope with the loss of electricity from infrastructure damage and the nuclear reactor shutdowns.