Covid 19 Omicron: New Zealand's lobster exports crawling back up

Photo / RNZ - Dom Thomas

RNZ

Two years after New Zealand's $300 million rock lobster export industry came to a halt overnight due to the pandemic, harvesters are feeling more optimistic about sales.

Most lobsters harvested in New Zealand go to the high-paying Chinese market, with demand traditionally strong in late January and February when the Chinese New Year celebrations are held.

Lobster Exporters New Zealand chairperson Andrew Harvey said the market was still not quite as robust as pre-Covid-19 days.

He said there were still Covid-19 lockdowns in China as the country aimed for something close to elimination, so sales were disrupted but they were looking good for next week's Lantern Festival.

"There are still some main centres experiencing Covid restrictions, like Beijing, which means there are fewer people travelling for Chinese New Year. So the hospitality sector, hotels, and restaurants are still coming back to where they were a couple of years ago.

"We're not quite back to pre-Covid levels but things are better now than what they have been over the last couple of years."

Harvey said even with the Omicron variant, China was handling the pandemic a lot better than many other countries.

"We're lucky Shanghai, which is key for New Zealand lobsters, hasn't been too badly hit with Covid," he said.

However, Harvey warned that while the year ahead looked positive for the industry, there were still challenges.

"There are flight changes, lockdowns, Covid management of staff for us here and at the China end.

"New procedures are popping up all the time in China around the clearance of shipments which can cause delays, and with live lobsters, we want that to be as short as possible to get them back in the water."

He described prices as sound and "everyone is getting by which is good because freight rates are still high".

"With no passengers on board, cargo has to cover more of the cost of the flight and logistics are still an issue, both within New Zealand and internationally. There are not as many flights as we used to have."

- RNZ