Tariff tension felt by southwestern Ontario fisheries
Vast majority of fish produced by Ontario commercial fisheries exports to U.S.
Southwestern Ontario's commercial fishing industry is feeling the pressure of looming U.S. tariffs expected on April 2 on all Canadian goods.
That includes fish caught and processed in Ontario, a vast majority of which comes from Lake Erie and is exported south of the border.
A 25 per cent tariff on Ontario fish would deal a significant blow to the region's commercial fisheries and processors, said Vito Figliomeni, executive director of the Ontario Commercial Fisheries' Association (OCFA).
"First off, you're going to have a lot of inward cost-cutting, right? I imagine layoffs, things of that nature," he said.
"U.S. consumers won't be able to buy our goods at higher levels, they'll find alternative proteins to buy that are cheaper, and we will definitely struggle."
It's a concern Matt McTaggart has been hearing from the fishermen he works with.
McTaggart's company, St. Thomas-based Steelhead Food Co., processes fish caught by commercial boats in Lake Erie and Lake Huron, including pickerel, whitefish, and yellow and white perch. The firm also packs the fish and sells it, which includes exportation to the U.S.
"We've told our fishermen ... 'no worries,' you know. We work hard on getting all the fish sold, keeping the boat prices where they're at," he said.
Like everyone else, fishermen have already seen their margins eaten away by inflation, raising the cost of operational necessities, such as netting, he said.
"It's up to us to manage and work with U.S. customers and explain to them that, 'Hey, these tariffs are simply a tax that your government has put onto you, and we just have to add them on. There is no room to suck up any of these.'"
Canadian seafood exported to China worth $1.3B
On Thursday, a new concern arrived in the form of Chinese tariffs on Canadian seafood — retaliation for Canada's 100 per cent tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles, and 25 per cent on steel and aluminum.
Around 19 per cent of Canadian seafood, about $1.3 billion worth, gets exported to China, mostly from the Maritimes including lobster, crab and shrimp. Another 64 per cent goes to the United States, three-quarters of which are lobster, crab and salmon, Fisheries and Oceans Canada said.
That means at least 83 per cent of seafood exported by Canada will be tariffed as of April 2, with the Maritimes hit the hardest.
Most fish produced by Ontario commercial fisheries, 80 per cent, goes stateside, and little of it goes to China, so those tariffs won't have a significant impact on the roughly 100 producers OCFA represents, Figliomeni said.
However, he worries if U.S. tariffs force Ontario fisheries to sell more product at home, a glut on the market could drive prices and revenue down. The same could also happen as those in the Maritimes make up for lost sales to China and the U.S.
"Freshwater fish producers already have enough challenge moving products into Canadian markets without competition, let alone with competition from the east and west coasts," he said.
McTaggart says he saw the anxiety of east coast producers up close at the recent Seafood Expo North America in Boston.
"They're really hoping we can move a lot more east coast seafood locally in Ontario. I had offerings for 10 pound [4.54 kg] boxes of live snow crab. They're very scared of what's happening," he said.
It's also a worry to Ontario fish farmers, who sell most of their product in Canada, said RJ Taylor, managing director of the Ontario Aquaculture Association and co-owner of Springhills Fish in Hanover.
"We don't export a lot of Ontario trout and steelhead, [but] other trout and salmon producers across Canada do. If they don't have a market, they have to find a way to sell it at home," he said.
"They're different fish species, but at the grocery store ... [shoppers] can substitute either or based on price and quality and availability."
Although anxious about tariff-related market interruptions, and longer-term supply chain interruptions and inflation, there is still optimism in the wave of 'buy Canada' patriotism that has bloomed across the country, he said.
"We're getting a lot more inquiries for people taking the time to understand where their seafood is coming from, and trying to make Canadian-sourced decisions," he said.
For OCFA, the focus right now is building a marketing strategy around supporting local and buying Canadian, Figliomeni said, adding that more work is needed.
"We need help from the government in trying to explore other markets like in Europe," he said. "We need to build better trading partnerships with Europe, I think right now, that's for sure."
LISTEN: How Ontario fisheries are preparing for tariffs
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