Looking to get into lobster fishing? You’ll need deep pockets | 24CA News
If you are seeking to buy a lobster fleet — licence, boat and kit — it could price you greater than you suppose.
There’s a spread, and the worth is dependent upon the harbour the place the particular person promoting the fleet has been fishing. For instance, the worth could possibly be larger if it is being purchased from a harbour that is seen larger lobster catches.
Mark Hackett is a dealer who works with folks seeking to purchase and promote fishing licences, boats and kit, akin to traps.
He not too long ago retired after 50 years of fishing for lobster out of Seacow Pond in western P.E.I.
Hackett mentioned these are the very best costs he is ever seen — as much as $1.8 million in some circumstances.
“I never ever thought they’d be as high as they are now. It could start dropping, or it could go higher. I have no idea. Seems like there’s no downturn yet. It could drop right down, depending on the interest rate,” he mentioned.
It was completely different when Hackett received into the fishery.
Catches and costs going up
“Back when I started back in the early 80s, they [licences] were 25 grand back then. But there was no money being made. If you didn’t have something else to do, you’d never survive because the catches weren’t there and the price wasn’t there,” he mentioned.
“Now the catches are going up, the price is going up, it’s driving the price of licences up … just supply and demand.”
Hackett mentioned generally folks will give their relations a break on the worth. But not at all times.
He mentioned it is a busy time of 12 months for him, with 4 offers able to be performed by the tip of the month. In a median 12 months, he’d make eight transactions for lobster fleets.
Hackett mentioned not simply anybody will be authorized by DFO to personal a lobster licence. He mentioned you want two years’ expertise lobster fishing, for at the least 5 weeks a 12 months. And there’s paperwork that may take months — one thing a dealer like himself will help with.
Charlie MacGeoghegan mentioned he began fishing on his personal 23 years in the past.
He mentioned again then a lobster licence in lobster fishing space 26a on P.E.I.’s south facet price round $225,000. In retrospect, MacGeoghegan mentioned he needs he’d purchased his a fishing licence earlier, when it was about half as a lot.
It’s nice for the blokes who’re retiring … however it makes it onerous for the younger guys stepping into the fishery.— Charlie MacGeoghegan
He mentioned the present worth is nice for some, however not others.
“It’s great for the guys who are retiring. It’s a lot better for them but it makes it hard for the young guys getting into the fishery as well,” he mentioned.
“Any of the young fishermen getting in have to really look at their accounting very close to see what their fuel bills are going to be and what their bait bill is going be. And there’s fixed costs like hired help and insurance and things like that,” mentioned MacGeoghegan.
“So they have to factor all that in and then be able to take a wage out of it and put their loan over 20 years and see if it makes sense or not. In some cases it does and other cases it doesn’t, so that’s kind of where things are at right now.”
He mentioned on P.E.I. when somebody buys a lobster fleet, they often keep within the harbour the place the licence was bought.
“Some harbours put harbour freezes in … some harbours were getting a lot of boats congregating at their harbour and just the physical harbour didn’t have room for more boats in a lot of cases,” he mentioned.
“And it keeps a lot more peace on the water if you just keep it where it was. Typically that’s the way it works, is you buy a licence in a certain harbour and you fish it there.”
Interest charges could decide the long run
MacGeoghegan mentioned it is onerous to say what is going to occur sooner or later. His greatest recommendation for somebody seeking to get in?
“I guess I would say what some of the older fishermen told me when I was getting out of high school. They said if you really enjoy fishing and you know that that’s what you want to do in the end, then you just gotta make a decision,” he mentioned.
He mentioned they informed him ready 5 or 10 years wasn’t going to assist him. MacGeoghegan mentioned, it seems they had been proper.
“But at the same time, you want to make a sound financial decision…. You gotta run the numbers too and make sure that it works and right now with interest rates and the cost of licences, doing those numbers and making sure they’re right is more important than ever.”
