Chinese economic slowdown won't hurt seafood exports: analyst

Fears about a slowdown in the massive Chinese economy is not likely to impact fish exports from Newfoundland and Labrador, says a spokesman with a seafood industry news service in the United States.

John Sackton, the editor and publisher of SeafoodNews.com, described China as the "new kid on the block" in terms of seafood imports, especially snow crab and lobster.

He doesn't expect that to change anytime soon.

"Even if they slow down quite a bit, they're still growing quite a lot," Sackton said.

"There might be this perception that some of the middle class Chinese have less money, but not necessarily. So I don't think that it's going to have a big impact as long as they don't totally slide into some sort of unexpected deep recession."

Sackton said the worldwide market for seafood is very strong, and prices for crab and shrimp, the two most important species in the Newfoundland and Labrador fishery, are "through the roof."

"This will continue regardless of what happens in China," Sackton said in an interview. 

He said markets for crab in the United States and Japan are also very healthy.

It all makes for a very positive outlook for the fishing sector, he added.

"Asian demand for seafood has grown so rapidly and is so large that even if it gets cut back a little, it's still going to be a big (player)," he said.

He said the fishing industry in Newfoundland and Labrador is also benefitting from a Canadian dollar that has fallen to its lowest value in 11 years against the U.S. dollar.