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Just shy of 10,000 pounds of live Newfoundland and Labrador lobster were flown direct from Gander to Madrid last week — a first for the province’s fishing industry, according to one exporter.
Darrell Roche, president and CEO of Whitecap International Seafood Exporters, called it a big step forward for the sector as a whole.
“It’s the first time that we’ve had enough volume that we felt comfortable that we can support such a program,” Roche told Radio-Canada on Monday.
Lobster landing have grown significantly in recent years due to warming waters.
“When you’re flying lobsters, you need to be 100 per cent sure that the blood-protein levels are there in the lobsters, and that the shells are hard and the meat is full. So these are pre-requisites, and Newfoundland lobsters fit that pre-requisite perfectly.”
A second shipment is planned for Tuesday.
Raymond Collins, president of PF Collins International Trade Solutions, which helped organize the flight, said it took less than 20 hours to move the lobsters from live tanks in Newfoundland to being unboxed in Madrid.
While the first trip was about two years in the making, it also comes during a time when partners across Newfoundland and Labrador’s fishing industry explore expanding into new markets with trade complications and tariffs coming out of the United States.
Roche said accessing markets like Spain plays a key role in developing new clients, while continuing to serve the American market.
“That’s always been our strategy, it’s just we’re doing more of it now given the geopolitical changes that we’re currently living with,” Roche said.
“It’s good practice as a country, an industry, and ourselves as a company and our supply base to ensure that we have our fingers and our toes in as many markets globally as possible.”
Whitecap also has plans to move other products from Newfoundland, like fresh cod and farmed salmon, to markets like Spain in the future. Roche said that could begin in the fall.
Plans are already in motion to help facilitate more products moving through Gander International Airport. A new cold storage facility is being built on site.
That was first announced in March 2023 with a price tag of $10-million. The facility will be able to store more than 75 tonnes of fresh or live seafood.
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