Sweden wants to ban Canadian lobster.
After finding several of them in their waters, officials have approached the EU to have Canadian Lobster declared an invasive species.
Sofia Brockmark is with Sweden’s Aquatic Biodiversity Department for Marine and Water Management and she says introducing an alien species poses a number of problems.
Those include different abilities to cope with the waters and crossbreeding with native lobsters.
Brockmark says Sweden has been through this with other invasive species and they’ve learned it’s better to stop the problem before it starts.
Sweden has issued a report on why the lobster should be declared invasive.
If their findings are declared valid at a meeting on August 31, the motion will go to the EU and lobster imports could be banned by spring.
Meanwhile, Premier Stephen McNeil says there is no basis for a ban on North American Lobster.
“I’m not sure where Sweden is going with this but from our perspective it’s a non-starter. We’re going to work with our national government to make sure that our product continues to be available to people around the world.”
The premier says very few lobsters found in Sweden can be traced back to Nova Scotia.
McNeil says the fisheries is an important part of Nova Scotia’s economy.
And, while he takes Sweden’s claims seriously, he says there’s been no real evidence presented to make a ban necessary.
“There’s been very little evidence to prove that. Because someone makes the accusation doesn’t make it true. And we’re going to make sure the rest of the world understands that.”
