Spring lobstering in Atlantic Canada ended July 18, 2025, with lobster prices 25% above those at the start of the main season.
Regarding fishers’ prices, the season began at C$10.39 ($7.50) a pound on April 20 and ended at C$12.83 ($9.38) on July 12.
In-between, weekly rate fixtures experienced a consecutive downward trend from the weeks starting April 27 through June 7.
According to data by the Fish, Food and Allied Workers (FFAW), rates revamped from June 15 onward at C$9.57 ($7.03).
For lobstermen in Cape Breton in Nova Scotia, northeast Canada, the season reportedly brought nothing to “complain about.” This according to skipper Sarah Forgeron, briefing the Cape Breton Post on July 15.
Forgeron added that prices never bounced below C$8 ($5.83) a pound throughout the season, unlike in the past.
The only downside is that the spring/early summer season ended all too soon for Lobster Fishing Area (LFA) 27, in 9 weeks.
LFA 27 constitutes the cape’s eastern coast and the bulk of the strait separating Cape Breton from Newfoundland, and partially the Atlantic.
While market offers ended on a high note in all of Canada, landings however were not as knife-edged.
The volume may have declined by up to 15% from that of mid-summer 2024, year-on-year (y-o-y). This is versus spring 2024’s 44,376.035 tonnes.
However, some vessels in Cape Breton still managed to land 1,000 pounds of lobster daily, which diminished to 400 pounds in the final weeks.
What does winter fisheries in December through January hold for fishermen after the main lobster season has ended? The below statistics offer a prelude with an account of the spring’s historical prices and then year-round landings.
Canada Main Lobster Season Prices and Annual Landings Statistics
The late April-late July lobstering is Canada’s biggest lobster season by landing volumes. May alone averages 25,490 tonnes, versus runner-up December at 18,810 tonnes, as of 2024. Given its largesse, the spring-summer season is price-sensitive. The Fish, Food And Allied Workers (FFAW) negotiates prices and sets minimum landing rates each week. The highest price that the FFAW set between 2023 and 2024 was April 2023’s C$19.02 ($14.10) a pound (lb). However, as the data below shows, the final weeks normally post higher prices than middle weeks.
How different were FFAW’s final week lobster prices between 2023 and 2025?
2025’s final lobster price by the FFAW (on July 12) was C$12.83 ($9.38)/lb, from a C$10.39 ($7.50) starter. In 2024, the July 7-13 rate was C$11.42 ($8.38), having started at C$12.65 ($9.25)/lb on April 21. A year earlier, the price on July 9 hit C$10.89 ($8.25) while the April 16 opener had clocked C$19.02 ($14.10)/lb.
Have lobster landings in Canada changed much in recent years ending 2023?
Canada’s lobster catches remained elevated between 2014 and 2023 and peaked in 2021. The table below, courtesy Seafood Data Search, shows a five-year tally.
| Year | Lobster Landings [tonnes] |
| 2023 | 94,679 |
| 2022 | 95,828 |
| 2021 | 106,395 |
| 2020 | 92,403 |
| 2019 | 99,654 |