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The Neighbors Are Cooking Fish (But Nobody’s Complaining!)
By Anita
Katial-Zemany
A fine kettle of fish the last five years have been for U.S. seafood! Fishery product exports have enjoyed huge success in neighboring Canada and Mexico, where total sales grew from $387.5 million in 1993 to $473.2 million in 1997, a 22-percent increase.
In 1997, the leading U.S. fishery product exports to Canada were lobster, salmon and crab, accounting for $92.4 million, $77.1 million and $17.5 million, respectively.
Canada’s tariffs on fishery product imports are quite low as a result of the U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement in 1988, which eliminated and quickly reduced any existing fish tariffs.
Fish exports to Canada rose
to $439.4 million in 1997, a 24-percent increase from $353.6 million in 1993, due mainly
to a growing Canadian economy and shortages in Canadian supply for some products during
some seasons. U.S. fishery product exports to Canada for the first nine months of 1998
went up 3 percent compared to the same period in 1997.
By way of comparison, fish exports to Mexico between 1993 and 1997 stayed quite stable. This is especially impressive in light of the 1995 peso crisis, which contributed to considerable economic turmoil and a sharp deterioration of the U.S. trade balance with Mexico.
In recent years, Canada has grown increasingly dependent on U.S. fish suppliers, both to meet its domestic demand during off-seasons and to make up for shifts in fish migration and harvest levels. For example, since Canadian lobster is harvested in different seasons than U.S. lobster, demand for the product remains strong while supply drifts.
U.S. lobster exports to Canada surged by 364 percent, from $19.9 million in 1993 to
$92.4 million in 1997. At that time, the United States produced 38,000 metric tons or
$267.2 million worth of lobster, of which 35 percent was exported to Canada.
In contrast, Canada bought a much smaller share of U.S. salmon exports in 1997, accounting for only 16 percent of the 257,500 tons produced. Canada’s own production of farm-raised salmon is expected to double in some provinces over the next few years, possibly reducing demand for U.S. salmon products further.
What about U.S. fishery product exports to Mexico? Following the decline in exports associated with the peso devaluation and economic recession, fishery exports in 1997 have recovered to pre-NAFTA levels. U.S. exports in 1997 totaled $33.8 million versus $33.9 million in 1993.
Already, total U.S. fish
exports to Mexico for the first nine months of 1998 rose by 30 percent in comparison to
the same period in 1997.
U.S. shrimp exports to Mexico surged 81 percent to $14 million in 1997, from $7.7 million in 1996. U.S. shrimp exports totaled $17.6 million in 1993.
With the Mexican economy growing (up more than 5 percent during the first half of 1998), U.S. fishery exports to Mexico are now poised to leap even higher, thanks to NAFTA’s open access gains, which include lower tariffs and fewer non-science-based sanitary restrictions.
For additional information about the U.S. fish and seafood industry, visit the FAS Forest and Fishery Products homepage at http://www.fas.usda.gov/ffpd/
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The author is an Agricultural Marketing Specialist with the FAS Forest and Fishery
Products Division. Tel.: (202) 720-0638; Fax: (202) 720-1001; E-mail: Katial-Zemany@fas.usda.gov
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