MAIN ISSUE

On 29th November 2009, it is reported that Chinese government has decided to discontinue importing lobster from Australia. This is due to vexation of Chinese government in regards to the fact that many Australian exporters sold their lobster to China through Hong Kong to avoid high tariff. However, only Australian import that has been stopped; whereas China still accepted imports from both New Zealand and South Africa.

The termination of lobster import to China which worth $300 million, will cause staggering effect on SA, Tasmania, Victoria and WAlobster exporters. Collier stated the reason is because up to 80 percent of lobsters caught in Victoria and 60 percent in Western Australia, are sent to China which pay a premium price. This makes China to be the primary consumer in lobster market. As a result, up to 50 cray boats were stuck at open sea because fisherman cannot deal with their catches and they would die without cool aerated water from the open sea. Therefore, many lobster fishers are considering to leave the industry and to seek more profitable income source.

This standstill will cause a major demand decrement on lobster; thus forcing the price to go down. It is reported that the port-side price dwindle by almost half, from $45/kg AUD to $25/kg AUD; while retail price went down from $115/kg to $61.5/kg. Consequently, many complaints are received from the fishermen due to their inability to cover up their losses. Chris Beissel stated that fishers can cover up their losses although the price went down as low as $25/kg by catching more lobster. However, this is not possible because government imposes licensing fees to catch lobster which is the cost that fishers cannot cover given the low price. Despite the fact suppliers are suffering, local consumer gain benefit from this incident due to the cheaper prices. Moreover, it was argued that