We’re used to seeing lobster in trucks, headed to Boston.
Or in crates, flown by plane to Paris or Tokyo.
Now a small Antigonish company and a French shipping giant have put into play the same idea for sending lobster exports through the roof — ocean-going shipping containers like the ones stacked high in Halifax Harbour but packed with live lobster.
CMA CGM of France has just increased their Atlantic Canadian presence to promote their latest technology in lobster transportation.
CMA CGM:
Bio Novations: A whole new approach
The company’s Aquaviva ocean-going container, ships live lobster by the tonne.
Rémi Samad, general manager of CMA CGM Canada, said 90 per cent of lobster shipped overseas is frozen, but the growing market wants live lobster.
Live lobster is not only expensive to ship by air, but mortality rates can be as high as five to 10 per cent.
“Lobsters shipped in their natural environment increases the quality of the product,” said Samad. “From what we have seen from Aquaviva trials, mortality rates are as low as one per cent.”
Samad said the new container technology will increase the ability of the Atlantic Canadian lobster industry to ship their product, but also continue to establish a reputation of quality coming from the region. Consumers want high-quality live lobsters, experiencing them as though they have come fresh from the ocean.
“Canada is concerned with providing high-quality lobster to the world. It’s competitive.”
Using chilled seawater, and a filtration system that controls oxygen and temperature levels, the containers also keep lobsters separated from each other. Pods hold individual lobsters, mimicking their natural habitat, where they would hide between rocks, preventing them from attacking one another and causing damage.
<noframes><img alt="CMA CGM - Aquaviva" src="https://cloudvideocenter-cma-cgm-front-res-pad.brainsonic.com/ressources/media/photo-61988-cma-cgm-aquaviva.jpg" _cke_saved_src="https://cloudvideocenter-cma-cgm-front-res-pad.brainsonic.com/ressources/media/photo-61988-cma-cgm-aquaviva.jpg" /><h2>CMA CGM - Aquaviva</h2></noframes>
Bethany Dunnet, CMA CGM’s sales representative in Atlantic Canada, said the far-reaching shipping arms of CMA CGM will help grow the industry, and open doors to high-demand markets.
“CMA CGM is providing world-class connectivity, which is really positive for Nova Scotia.”
There are 10 containers fully assembled, with plans to have them on the ocean by the end of October. Samad said CMA CGM is looking forward to a large fleet in the near future.
In Nova Scotia, a much smaller company with the same big ambition, is creating technology of its own. BioNovations, based out of Antigonish, plans to release their live lobster containers by late 2016 or early 2017. The 40-foot, ocean-going containers will have the capacity to ship up to 25,000 pounds of lobster.
BioNovations founder, Joe Boudreau, has been in the lobster industry for more than 30 years, and saw a gap in the shipping industry.
“I fished all my life and one of our big problems was all of our product went to the processors, we had to find a way to get the product to the live market.”
BioNovations containers have honeycomb-shaped dividers for lobsters, kept in filtered and temperature controlled seawater. The containers are both holding and transportation systems.
“These new holding systems are designed to use a third of the amount of volume of water they are using now, so it’s going to cut down on costs. You can take that crate, take it out of the holding system and ship it — so you move the crate not the lobster.”
Boudreau said with a large number of facilities in Atlantic Canada holding more than a million pounds of lobster throughout the year, new technology is important for sustaining the industry and their ability to ship to growing Asian markets.
We’re used to seeing lobster in trucks, headed to Boston.
Or in crates, flown by plane to Paris or Tokyo.
Now a small Antigonish company and a French shipping giant have put into play the same idea for sending lobster exports through the roof — ocean-going shipping containers like the ones stacked high in Halifax Harbour but packed with live lobster.
CMA CGM of France has just increased their Atlantic Canadian presence to promote their latest technology in lobster transportation.
CMA CGM:
Bio Novations: A whole new approach
The company’s Aquaviva ocean-going container, ships live lobster by the tonne.
Rémi Samad, general manager of CMA CGM Canada, said 90 per cent of lobster shipped overseas is frozen, but the growing market wants live lobster.
Live lobster is not only expensive to ship by air, but mortality rates can be as high as five to 10 per cent.
“Lobsters shipped in their natural environment increases the quality of the product,” said Samad. “From what we have seen from Aquaviva trials, mortality rates are as low as one per cent.”
Samad said the new container technology will increase the ability of the Atlantic Canadian lobster industry to ship their product, but also continue to establish a reputation of quality coming from the region. Consumers want high-quality live lobsters, experiencing them as though they have come fresh from the ocean.
“Canada is concerned with providing high-quality lobster to the world. It’s competitive.”
Using chilled seawater, and a filtration system that controls oxygen and temperature levels, the containers also keep lobsters separated from each other. Pods hold individual lobsters, mimicking their natural habitat, where they would hide between rocks, preventing them from attacking one another and causing damage.
<noframes><img alt="CMA CGM - Aquaviva" src="https://cloudvideocenter-cma-cgm-front-res-pad.brainsonic.com/ressources/media/photo-61988-cma-cgm-aquaviva.jpg" _cke_saved_src="https://cloudvideocenter-cma-cgm-front-res-pad.brainsonic.com/ressources/media/photo-61988-cma-cgm-aquaviva.jpg" /><h2>CMA CGM - Aquaviva</h2></noframes>
Bethany Dunnet, CMA CGM’s sales representative in Atlantic Canada, said the far-reaching shipping arms of CMA CGM will help grow the industry, and open doors to high-demand markets.
“CMA CGM is providing world-class connectivity, which is really positive for Nova Scotia.”
There are 10 containers fully assembled, with plans to have them on the ocean by the end of October. Samad said CMA CGM is looking forward to a large fleet in the near future.
In Nova Scotia, a much smaller company with the same big ambition, is creating technology of its own. BioNovations, based out of Antigonish, plans to release their live lobster containers by late 2016 or early 2017. The 40-foot, ocean-going containers will have the capacity to ship up to 25,000 pounds of lobster.
BioNovations founder, Joe Boudreau, has been in the lobster industry for more than 30 years, and saw a gap in the shipping industry.
“I fished all my life and one of our big problems was all of our product went to the processors, we had to find a way to get the product to the live market.”
BioNovations containers have honeycomb-shaped dividers for lobsters, kept in filtered and temperature controlled seawater. The containers are both holding and transportation systems.
“These new holding systems are designed to use a third of the amount of volume of water they are using now, so it’s going to cut down on costs. You can take that crate, take it out of the holding system and ship it — so you move the crate not the lobster.”
Boudreau said with a large number of facilities in Atlantic Canada holding more than a million pounds of lobster throughout the year, new technology is important for sustaining the industry and their ability to ship to growing Asian markets.
JANGA SARL Broucher-1
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