Prince Edward Island continues to expand trading partners as fishing exports rise 150 per cent, over $70 million, in the last five years, according to data from Industry Canada.
P.E.I. may rank sixth in Canada in total fishing exports, but the smallest province champions the highest growth of fishing exports in the Atlantic region and second across Canada. At 28 per cent, P.E.I is second only to the Northwest Territories regarding overall growth of exports.
Like the rest of Canada, the United States is P.E.I.’s greatest trading partner, though despite high tariffs in Europe and Asia – some regions taxing upwards of 35 per cent on imported P.E.I. goods – the province has continued to increase its presence in global markets.
Newly formed trade agreements will seek to eliminate tariffs with new trading partners entirely within the next several years and lead to exponential growth for the P.E.I. economy, according to former fisheries and oceans minister Gail Shea.
Shea believes the data is not an anomaly, and that and says both P.E.I. and national exports will see substantial growth in the following years, particularly in Asian and European markets.
“In China the message from them has always been that they don’t have to sell us on the quality of Canadian fish. They can’t get enough, and there is a lot of room for expansion.”
She says that there shouldn’t be a worry for flooded markets because new markets are becoming more aware of the quality of P.E.I. seafood and places like Japan, China and France “will take whatever we can sell them.”
Japan remains a top importer for P.E.I., taking roughly $6 million worth of fish and seafood in 2011 and climbing to nearly $19 million in 2015 – a 323 per cent increase over five years.
Shea believes these growths can continue when the government passes the Canada-European Union comprehensive economic and trade agreement (CETA). A deal that will significantly lower tariffs on the European continent and open markets even further for the P.E.I. fisheries.
CETA is expected to slash 96 per cent of trade tariffs between Canada and the European Union and within seven years become completely duty free.
Shea predicts countries like Belgium, which is a member of the EU, will follow suit in demanding more exports from P.E.I. fisheries. Exports to Belgium from P.E.I. have soared from $1.8 million in 2011 to $9.4 million in 2015.
She believes the current plans of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), in combination with tariff elimination, will mark a new era for the P.E.I economy.
“The world has become smaller and markets have become larger.” Combined with innovations in technology and transportation, P.E.I will continue to diversify its exports with the rest of the country.
Shea says that the 2009 economic collapse in the United States forced people to look for new markets and was “the silver lining in the clouds” not only for P.E.I. fisheries, but the entire country.
Roughly 85 per cent of Canadian fish and seafood exports were heading for the United States, but that number has fallen to around 65 per cent – though America still remains Canada’s greatest importer.
Though Shea says it’s because of new trade partners that the marketplace “better reflects what the market is worth.”
Controversy and public outrage surrounded the TPP deal when it was accepted by the Canadian government last fall, especially regarding the dairy industry. But when asked whether TPP and CETA are the right decision for P.E.I. fisherman Shea chuckles and says “oh good lovins yes, very much so.”