Hello everyone, I appreciate you joining me by teleconference.
I’m pleased to report that, once again, North America’s largest and most important seafood expo has been a resounding success. It’s been an excellent opportunity to showcase Canada’s world class fish and seafood products with buyers from around the globe. We’ve also been able to shine a spotlight on Canada’s exceptional industry standards and practices.
I remember holding a similar call last year from the Boston Seafood Show, and telling you that the word that summarized this trade mission the best was ‘enthusiasm’.
Last year it was impressive and now we have data that supports it.
Canadian exports continued to grow once again in 2014, with total sales of fish and seafood totaling $4.9 billion. This represents an overall increase of $517 million or 11.9% from the previous year.
Canadian fish and seafood exports reached new markets in 2014, with exports to even more countries. It’s now 136, up from 123 countries in 2013.
The United States, of course, remains Canada’s largest and most important trading partner, accounting for 63% of fish and seafood exports, at a value of $3.1 billion.
Going forward, we will continue to nurture our unique and long-standing trade relationship with the United States. After all, more than 60 percent of our fish and seafood exports are destined for markets here in the US. This event gives members of our seafood industry a chance to meet with potential buyers from a vast and diversified American market.
Building on existing markets is important but opening up new markets is also vital.
Since 2006, our Government’s focus on opening new markets has had an overwhelmingly positive effect on our respective economies. It’s opened up new commercial opportunities, acted as a stimulus to build internationally competitive businesses, and helped attract foreign investment.
One of the most marked changes over the past few years has been the finalization of important trade deals with the European Union and South Korea. Both of these agreements offer Canadian fishermen preferential access to important markets.
These agreements are game-changers for Canada. The elimination of tariffs will open up untapped markets throughout Europe and Asia. This means our fishermen and aquaculturists will see more of their harvest on dinner tables around the world as consumers become exposed to the world class products that Canada has to offer.
Domestically, this will result in job creation, higher wages and long-term prosperity. When CETA comes into full effect, almost all EU tariffs on Canadian fish and seafood will be eliminated. This, alone, is expected to result in millions of dollars in annual savings and more money in the pockets of everyday Canadians.
It’s very interesting to note that even before the coming into force of this trade agreement, Canada’s biggest seafood export increase overall in 2014 was to the European Union with a 24 percent increase ($89 million) in export growth.
Under the Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement, all Korean tariffs on fish and seafood products will be eliminated. The Agreement is projected to increase exports by 32 per cent and boost the Canadian economy by $1.7 billion annually.
You may have seen in the media recently that a cargo flight takes an average of 40,000 kilograms of live lobster from Halifax to Seoul every week.
The agreement with Korea is already showing results for our lobster industry –Canada’s most lucrative fishery.
We can see it while looking at the significant boost in the value of fish and seafood exported by PEI. From 2013 to 2014, we’ve seen a 28% increase! Lobster remains Canada’s top export species in terms of value, with $1.5 billion of exports in 2014.
As a Government, we’re constantly looking to the future and how we can open up even more markets to Canadian businesses. And it’s paying off.
Our Government is also proud to support our aquaculture industry. Aquaculture represents about a third of Canada’s total fisheries value and about 20% of total seafood production. The industry provides more than 14,000 job opportunities in direct and indirect employment, many of which are in remote and coastal locations.
As global markets expand, Canada’s fishing and aquaculture industries continue to grow and adapt. The evolution of the lobster sector is particularly interesting to watch. Canadian lobster is in high demand the work over but exports to China are growing exponentially. Opening up new international markets will allow fishermen and exporters to further capitalize on this growing trend.
Today, I’m proud of Canada’s representation at the Boston Seafood Expo and how we showcase our well-regulated and sustainable seafood industry.
I’m confident that, by working together, Canada will continue to be a world leader in the production of high-quality, safe, nutritious and sustainable seafood products.
Our Government’s efforts since 2006 to open new markets to our world-class fish and seafood products are producing concrete results. We are already seeing increased exports to the European Union in anticipation of our trade agreement coming into force. We can expect even more growth over the coming years as tariffs are phased out as a result of our trade agreement with South Korea as well.
I would now like to invite members of the delegation to speak about how their businesses are benefiting from our Government’s efforts to open up new international markets.
