2013 season – An extraordinary visibility on the provincial scene for gaspesian lobster

Chandler, 17th of July 2013 – This year the Regroupement des pêcheurs professionnels du Sud de la Gaspésie put in place a vast operation to promote gaspesian lobster in order to increase awareness with Quebec consumers. « Since we cannot have a huge impact on supply, we decided that it would be a great idea to help Quebec consumers discover the great qualities of Gaspesian lobster and to live an experience of meeting the fisherman who fished their lobster through tracability on our Web site. » explains Oneil Cloutier, general director of the Regroupement.

– A vast operation of public relations and an extraordinary coverage are what followed.
– The supermarket chain Metro promotes lobster from Quebec « freshly fished from the Gaspe ».
– The federation of milk producers from Quebec chose lobster as a focus of their marketing campaign
– Many consumers interacted positively with the facebook page of the Regroupement

At the end of the season, the average price recieved by gaspesian lobster fisherman was between 4,35 and 4,40/lb, 5% lower than last year but still much less than other areas in the maritimes. This situation of lower prices at the delivery of the product is hard to except, especially after all the work and effort put into the cause of promoting lobster.

This traceability project was funded by the ministère de l’Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l’Alimentation, as part of the Programme d’appui financier aux initiatives collectives dans le secteur des pêches et de l’aquaculture commerciales.