May 13, 2010
Oil spill leads to shrimp shortage in Canada
Massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has caused a shortage in shrimp, hiking shrimp prices and the shortage will be replaced by imports.
The chief executive of High Liner Foods said higher prices are to be expected for shrimp over the next six to 12 months, due to the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, which happened on Wednesday (May 5).
High Liner Foods CEO Henry Demone said before the start of the company's annual meeting in Halifax that there has been an international shortage of fresh shrimp since the BP spill occurred. "Buyers are out on the market trying to replace that supply and that has led to higher shrimp prices," he said.
Demone said the reduced supply is being replaced by farmed shrimp worldwide, and that has tightened overall supply. He predicted that over time aquaculture operations will increase production and prices will stabilise. High Liner Foods is based in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada.
