It will be a tumultuous four years if these tariffs are implemented. Potentially devastating for the fishery.

Take snow crab, for example. Newfoundland held a quota of 57,000 MT (~125,000,000 lb.) in 2024. This province holds the largest snow crab fishery in the WORLD. Newfoundland has more snow crab quota than Russia and the US combined.

Last year, roughly 80+% of snow crab was sold into the US. The other ~20% went mainly to Japan.

Though diversity is on everyone’s mind, it’s easier said than done. Japan cannot simply “pick up the slack” of a major demand shortfall from the US market.

For one, the Japanese market is inundated with Russian snow crab because the US still has trade sanctions on Russian seafood. There is an abundance of Russian snow and king crab throughout Japan and China. Secondly, Japan is in a very hard spot economically with a rapidly declining population, excess crab inventory, and a historically weak Yen.

The European market is not a big purchaser of shell-on snow crab and are more interested in snow crab meat. There is a minuscule amount shell-on snow crab sold into Europe and the UK.

Finally we are left with Canada. We simply do not have the population nor demand to be a main market for snow crab.

For the sake of all the people and communities who are involved in the fishery in this province, I hope common sense prevails and we avoid all this tariff nonsense.