A local value-added seafood producer says the current economic climate under U.S. tariffs has proved very challenging for his business.
Danny Dumaresque of Labrador Gem Seafoods says half of his product has traditionally gone to the U.S. market, but “there’s no way to overcome a 25 per cent tariff.”
While the province’s seafood industry has managed to avoid the tariff, for now, continued threats and the uncertainty that it created has forced many producers to look elsewhere.
Dumaresque is now working on securing greater access to buyers in Spain, Italy, France and the U.K.
He says while Canadians “dodged a bullet” in the latest round of American reciprocal tariffs, “Trump is not going to change” which is why he’s working on diversifying his markets.
Dumaresque says there are 450 million people in the European Union who “eat four times as much seafood as we do in North America” and already know Newfoundland and Labrador’s reputation for high-quality seafood products.
Meanwhile, provincial fisheries minister Gerry Byrne has launched a Seafood Marketing Support Program to help local companies expand into global markets.
The program is being introduced to help identify, assess, target and develop new market opportunities in response to U.S. and Chinese tariffs.
Non-repayable funding of up to $100,000 is available to local businesses through a $5,750,000 seafood diversification fund.
Byrne says “it is absolutely essential that this threat never be a threat (to local producers) again. We can’t control what the White House or the President does…what we can do is diversify our markets.”
The Seafood Marketing Support Program will focus on:
- Market information and research
- Market development planning
- Adapting products and packaging for new markets
- Market development activities
- Marketing material and promotional tools
Examples of eligible activities include, but are not limited to:
- Re-development of packaging for new markets
- Participation in tradeshows/missions
- Market research
- Brand strategy development
- Advertising
- Export development planning
