American lobster capture. (Photo: Stock File)

EU’s possible lobster restrictions also worry Massachusetts

UNITED STATES
Tuesday, May 03, 2016, 01:10 (GMT + 9)

Massachusetts lawmakers have joined those from Maine in their work to prevent a possible ban on North American lobster by the European Union (EU) after Sweden’s concern that the American crustacean poses an invasive threat to its own native lobster species.

The Massachusetts delegation voiced its concerns in a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry, US Trade Representative Michael Froman and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Administrator Kathryn Sullivan about the impact of a ban by the EU, which accounts for one-fifth of all American lobster exports, Portland Press Herald reported.

“Studies conducted by New England’s leading marine scientists refute Sweden’s assertions that American lobster carry contagious shell diseases and that hybrids of the European and American lobster are viable in the wild,” the letter states.

The trade dispute started in March, when Sweden announced it was seeking from the 28-country EU a ban on live North American lobsters. Norway, which is not a member of the EU, banned North American lobsters on January 1, saying it shared Swedish concerns.

Those opposing such a ban, including the Maine Lobster Dealers’ Association, consider the proposal has more to do with the market protection for European lobsters than with any environmental threat by American lobsters.

At stake are USD 10 million worth of lobsters Maine directly exports to the EU annually and much of the USD 125 million worth shipped from Massachusetts annually, which comes from Maine as well.

Meanwhile, a risk assessment carried out by Sweden authorities revealed that Europe imports 13,000 metric tons of lobster from the US and Canada each year and that in eight years, Swedish officials have found about 30 American lobsters in their waters. Besides, twenty-four American lobsters have been found off the British coast in recent decades, which experts believe does not represent an invasion, The Guardian reports.

For his part, Robert Bayer, executive director of the Lobster Institute at the University of Maine, claimed that The concern about disease in Sweden’s assessment is misplaced, as the epizootic shell disease that concerns Swedish officials is not contagious. The expert added that he has not seen a lobster infected with gaffkemia, another disease mentioned in the assessment, for at least 10 years, and white spot is a disease of shrimp, not lobster.

Bayer explained that he American and Swedish lobster are related and have been interbred by humans. It is uncertain if the two types of lobster can mate without human intervention.

“Despite what appear to be obvious shortcomings in Sweden’s petition for alarm and overreaction, the Maine Department of Marine Resources, Maine’s congressional delegation and lobster dealers — along with their counterparts in Canada — are right to take the filing seriously and respond to it based on scientific reality,” the expert concluded.

Related article:

- Maine worries about EU's possible ban on live lobster imports

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