Industry Market Report


2009/2010 Industry Market Report The WA whites catch period of 2009/2010, saw some very remarkable activity both on the beach and in the markets. Record daily landings per vessel with overflowing production along the coast saw higher than anticipated volumes of product downgraded to the lowest return types. Even so with higher than expected %’s of frozen production, markets reacted positively using the opportunity to fill their stores at high but not unreasonable prices which were supported by the continued news of closures and poor production outlooks. Then as fast as the volume landings subsided, major live markets were caught short of their daily needs and continued to struggle to satisfy even the highest end of the market, pushing prices higher and higher with live export prices peaking in the last half of February at around US$70/kg CFR (levels never seen before either in or outside the WA season) . This was especially the case for the smaller A/B sizes and opening a massive gap between other sizes C+. With record beach prices being paid out to as much as AUD$60/kg or higher, at times processors receiving inferior quality or poor size mixes were rumored to be losing as much as $35/kg on those consignments.
Reported WA Lobster Commercial Production (Nov - Jan)
06-07 07-08 08-09 09-10
Whole Cooked 1,233,707 1,207,416 1,131,438 744,198
Whole Raw 335,650 112,640 58,240 168,860
Raw Tails 891,463 798,163 897,572 716,560
Live 1,244,086 796,381 1,357,129 1,212,552
Japan Starting the year with very low inventories of frozen WA Red A with the vast majority of importers were still determined not to buy Pink A where possible. Having said that, some small airfreight business was noted as well as contract split lobster orders combined with a majority of frozen raw heads. Prices for Heads also peaked and saw many importers going without as packers struggled to pack by-products during the tail production peaks. In general, frozen Red WA Lobsters from the previous season were selling in the market at prices more than double of that of many major competitor origins and whilst menus continued to be altered or deleted, the lower supply was still short of the lowering consumption requirements and a conundrum for many importers in Japan who wondered how much risk they could bare.
Japanese Spiny Lobster Imports (kgs) Japanese Spiny Lobster Imports (kgs)
FROZEN Dec-09 Jan-10 LIVE Dec-09 Jan-10
Philippines 3,360 0 Indonesia 614 258
Indonesia 7,490 10,060 USA - 300
India 17,440 0 South Africa 11,090 6,940
UAE 7,310 0 Australia 91,581 19,395
France 40,950 0 New Zealand 196 537
USA 2,500 0 Total 103,481 27,430
Mexico 244 3,560
Cuba 31,360 47,060
Brazil - 15,875
Madagascar 9,660 0
South Africa 1,920 13,000
Australia 3,720 4,999
Total 125,954 94,554
Taiwan Indeed quite a contrast to the previous season where large inventories were landed pre-season and kept the market in neutral @ US$19-21/kg. Instead Taiwan importers which had largely sold out, were lining up for new season offers and were finally shocked to receive new season prices of US$28-31/kg CFR up 40% on quotations 12 months earlier. Offers were mostly limited to just the larger and more regular importers and were continuously adjusted against the stronger Australian domestic market which looked even more attractive as FX rates hovered between 0.91 & 0.94 for AUD/USD. As the season progressed, regular sea and air-shipments were made in order to replenish stocks ahead of the expected Chinese New Year demand. With the main interest focused on Whole Cooked, importers largely discouraged inclusions of whole raw however reluctantly accepted to enable container purchases, however by mid February where it was evident that Live Lobster pricing was exceeding Taiwan market capacity, and most frozen whole raw requests thereafter failed to compete with other market demands and were largely unmet. By the end of Chinese New Year celebrations, Taiwan importers were scratching their heads to note that newly procured frozen inventories had hardly moved as end users simply moved to other cheaper origin options. Taiwanese live importer tanks had only a small window of opportunity to fill during the peak catching periods and again this year several of the large importers used their tank capacity to purchase good volumes to on-sell to the Chinese mainland when the Live market prices in China gained momentum. By the passing of Chinese New Year celebrations more often these tanks contained leftover live WA lobsters, were dry and unused as importers simply gave up the competition with the their mainland rivals. HK/ China Frozen demand at season start was as usual very limited apart from the odd Whole Cooked enquiry. As Live prices continued to push up thru January and into February peaking for Chinese New Year followed by announced closures, importers responded positively to Whole Raw offers for B & C sizes and essentially cleaned out remaining WA inventories. Imports of frozen foreign origins were notably increasing as major live distributors tried to maintain lower paying lobster customers with other options. The highly fluctuating live market of China did not disappoint this year. For the first time live export prices nudged through the US$70 per kg mark and at times out-priced our Southern Australian species. Early Nov/Dec levels in the mid US$40’s CFR were as expected and good volumes were moved to the Chinese market. As the catches intensified with huge Monday landings, panic sell offs in the early part of each week held values down while the Chinese importers filled their tanks. By late January this reversed and prices quickly headed north with Monday landings quickly snapped up as importers’ stock security for the rest of the week. As catches slowed and held steady, Chinese inventories soon started dissipating and importers battled to secure daily landings through to end Feb. USAUS inventories were also short by season opening and with prices at near record highs, packers moved to get airfreights underway and take immediate advantage of Christmas/NY and valentines markets. Premiums were noted for larger sizes C+ and with in transit sea containers rumored to be mostly comprised of B sizes, markets focused on C+ for airfreights with discounts for B’s. At the time of writing this report, importers and distributors were gaining confidence in B size market capacity and more certain of the likelihood of market shortages. Market monitors regularly pointed out the vast pricing differences between the largest volume seller Caribbean tails / p argus moving at prices from US$12.50-$16.00/lb CFR whilst at the same time West Australian tails were fetching US$28-32/lb… At the time of writing this report, US & EU inventories for Caribbean tails were widely accepted as now heavily depleted and further price escalations had started.
USA Frozen Rock Lobster Tail Imports (mt) '000 kgs
Origin 2007 2008 2009
Brazil 3,212 2,838 2,032
Bahamas 1,135 1,495 1,805
Nicaragua 1,337 1,667 1,408
Honduras 1,322 1,369 1,233
Australia 1,457 1,146 633
South Africa 752 392 478
Panama 184 190 242
St. Helena 63 116 144
Belize 187 174 139
Dominican Republic 159 120 102
Colombia 267 173 101
Spain 77 61 99
Turks & Caicos Islands 77 38 31
New Zealand 116 49 13
Mexico 65 37 11
Ecuador 22 39 7
EUROPEEuropean enquiries for whole frozen Red B started early but without carryover inventory, were largely ignored although at least 1fcl new Season Whole Cooked Pinks was finally concluded. Discussions on pink cooked chilled pre Christmas requirements commenced at levels much higher than almost all other market options but were ultimately forced down thru competitive negotiations by mid December under peak catching pressures, but still managing to move around 60mt by air. Prior to the season start, rumours were heard from Europe that due to the continued market weakness for tails, some prior season shipments of WA Tails had been redirected back to the US markets for likely better returns, which we understand finally resolved in the positive. AUSTRALIADomestic Australian demand was again strong thru Christmas and New Year and although international USD pricing had appreciated significantly, the offset of the high aud/usd fx rate at 0.92 vs same time 1 year earlier @ 0.62 meant little price difference in Australian Currency terms. The Australian market also saw heavy interest in imported frozen lobster products, especially Cuban and Florida types, and even saw African and Indonesian types being offered to fill the empty stores or meet menu price point cut offs. As beach prices moved higher thru Jan & feb in line with hungry Chinese live demands, the volume of direct fishermen to retail sales quickly dried up and domestic buyers were scampering to fill their needs from export packers.
Australian Frozen Lobster Exports (Sep 09 - Dec 09) : BY EXPORT WEIGHT
Sep-09 Oct-09 Nov-09 Dec-09
United States 19560 22870 10870 96980
Taiwan 0 0 0 91540
Japan 1300 540 0 37500 *
France 0 0 8550
New Zealand 0 1170 0 7210
Hong Kong 2950 1580 60 4200
Singapore 0 0 0 1050
* Includes approx 3fcls Heads
Report prepared by Wild Oceans Pty LtdFremantle, Western AustraliaTel (08) 9433 6785, Fax (08) 9335 8478 Web Wild Oceans Pty Ltd

Vegie crates can someone tell me if all companies take 5kg off vegie crates.I was today by a fishermen that the company he works with deducts the weight after grading the lobster and his average for the vegie crate is between 4.6kg to 4.8 kg so a saving off 200/ 400grms so if you bringing in 20 baskets you are losing approx 4 to 8kg @ $21.00 = $168 x 4 =$672.00 per week why should the processor get it so believe me i will be talking my processor before Monday to sort this out .
Caccacaso

Credit where it is due boys, it looks like the factories were going to pocket the profits again before GFC raised the beach price. That's about the fourth time this season where theyve directly increased all fishermens income by a huge margin. I wonder what price we would be on without them? Its a question Im sure we all wonder about , but this year its the difference between profit and loss, survival and death for many of us. I hope everyone who ahs benefited from this (which is everyone) gives them a few crays so they can keep it up. If we dont reward this, we'll get what we deserve. Give them a few baskets, and get a few free boxes of bait as part of the deal, and encourage them to keep the beach price up so that everyone benefits.

If you’re not big on restaurants, love crayfish and aren’t afraid to get your hands wet, you can catch them yourself with crayfish traps. The secret to catching lots of these delicious critters, making for a true feast, is to have the right trap and the right bait.

There are those that are crafty enough to make their own traps, but I have better luck searing the Internet for talented individuals who have been making traps for years and know the ins and outs of what works and what doesn’t. A good trap can make all the difference on how many crawdads you’ll bring home, and in my home – the more craw dads the happier everyone is!

Bait is just as important as the trap you use. The great thing about crayfish is they will eat just about including fish head, guts, snails, frogs, etc. Finding the perfect bait will land you pounds of crayfish. If you find your trap is only holding a couple of pounds, then you know that the bait you are using is wrong. A good catch will usually hold 20 to 25 pounds of crayfish while a poor one will only produce a couple of pounds. Just make sure that the bait you use is fresh and use a bait box, which works better than a jar bcause there is more room.

To guarantee good catches, you have to know where you put your traps. That makes total sense right. Don’t laugh. I’ve had friends who drop traps, forget to mark them out and never find them again. Also, place traps where crayfish like to hang out whether it’s a river, stream or bond. Crayfish like lots of rocks and algae because they will eat algae and hide out in the rocks searching for prey.

Got your pounds and pounds of crayfish? Good – stay tune to learn just what makes for the best eating crawdads around!

I love those Walleye guys
The way they always love the most
Expensive fish.
I love the way they never settle
For just a sunny or a lowly perch
The way they persist for nothing but
The best.
(Poet Unknown)

Fishing for walleye is a challenge. A master of eating bait without getting hooked, the walleye is truly a popular game fish because they put up a good fight and catching them is a lot of fun.

Although in the minority, some fishermen like to use night crawlers as bait for walleye because it is a predatory fish, eating just about anything in its path. Fishermen will look for walleye hanging out in an area and fish them with a bobber. If they’re on a river, they will troll night crawlers using a standard night crawler rig with a slip sinker, dragging it across the bottom of the riverbed. As it drifts, a large area is covered, hopefully supporting a health stock of walleye.

Some fishermen will use the same rigging technique standing on the bank of a river, while others will use night crawlers with a spinner to attract a hungry walleye.

Experienced walleye fishermen will look for dams and hang by the mouth of a river. Still others will head downstream, to snare those walleye that are winding their way up to spawning waters. Walleye making their way up stream will rest in underwater deep holes, and are vulnerable to catch using a heavy weight, three-way spinner and crank bait.

The variables included in successfully catching walleye are the river you fish, the time of year and the weather.