Mainebiz

V O L . X X I N O. I X M AY 4 , 2 0 1 5 14 S eafood was Maine's leading export in 2014, with its total value of $456.67 million topping the No. 2 export commodity of paper and pulp products by almost $100 mil- lion. And the biggest driver of seafood's rise to the top of the state's export com- modity chart, says Jeffrey Bennett of the Maine International Trade Center, is that tasty two-clawed crustacean harvested by hundreds of independent fishermen in the Gulf of Maine, the Maine lobster. Lobster accounts for almost $366 million of those exports and its over- all total export value increased by a whopping 45.4% between 2013 and 2014 among the 25 countries buying Maine lobsters, according to statistics compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau's foreign trade division. "at's pretty significant for the industry," says Bennett, MITC's senior trade specialist who was part of a Maine delegation touting the state's iconic lobster and other seafood prod- ucts at the world's largest seafood show in Brussels in late April. "We've seen huge growth in Asia." To prove Bennett's point, one could start off by visiting Tom Adams at his four-year-old Maine Coast Shellfish distribution and processing plant in York. Located less than two miles from Exit 7 on the Maine Turnpike, the 16,000-square-foot plant features four holding tanks capable of storing up to 150,000 pounds of live lobster in circulated, filtered and chilled natural ocean water. ere's an atmosphere of friendly efficiency, as workers wear- ing rubber gloves and overalls hoist totes of lobsters out of the tanks, sort them by weight in a climate-controlled warehouse and pack them tightly in waterproof boxes for daily shipments out of airports in Boston, New York and Newark, N.J. "I want to be a major shipper of lobster worldwide," says Adams, who also attended the Brussels trade show. "To grow as quickly as I could, I went after the emerging Asia market." Maine Coast Shellfish's sales have grown from zero to $40 million in four years, earning Adams the accolade as the U.S. Small Business Administration's 2015 Small Business Exporter of the Year for Maine. He'll be honored at an SBA reception at the Augusta Country Club on May 5. Ready Seafood, a Portland-based lobster dealer and pro- cessor started 10 years ago by John and Brendan Ready, is receiving a similar award from the Maine International Trade Center on May 21 for its growing global seafood business, with interna- tional markets now accounting for more than 70% of its business. Both com- panies are playing a significant role in expanding markets for Maine's lob- sters, helping to drive a record one-year increase of almost $87 million in the overall value of the 2014 catch over 2013. "In the last year, the value of lobster per pound went up 79 cents," Adams says. "at's dramatic. At $3.63 per pound, that's a 20% higher value than the year before." Emerging markets Adams, 45, started his company in 2011 with the vision of focusing on inter- national sales. e market in Asia, at that point, was just emerging — with China, for example, importing a bit more than $100,000 worth of Maine lobsters in 2010, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's foreign trade divi- sion. In 2014, with $21.5 million in sales, China is the No. 2 importer of Maine lobsters after Canada, at $300.5 million. Although Adams knew the European market would be an impor- tant segment of his overall business, he quickly realized Asia had stronger growth potential. In a mature market, he says, Maine Coast Shellfish would have to take away market share from someone else; in an emerging market, the future was wide open. "e bulk of the industry was just starting to see a market develop in Asia and mainland China," Adams says. "I knew I needed to find custom- ers in those new emerging markets." Although his company is techni- cally a start-up, Adams has more than paid his dues: He's a 30-year veteran of Maine's shellfish industry. "I pretty much had just had one job before starting this business," he says, noting that he began working for a York lobster dealer when he was 15 and even- tually became a 50% owner of that com- pany by the time he hit 30. Although things were going well at that business, Adams says that by 2009 he decided it was time to take a different path and sold his half of the business. Top 5 export countries for Maine lobsters Top 5 exports from Maine in 2014 (all commodities) S O U R C E : Maine International Trade Center $150M $200M $250M $300M $350M 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 Canada $0 $5M $10M $15M $20M $25M 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 South Korea China United Kingdom Hong Kong 2014 value Percent change 2013–2014 Fish, crustaceans $456.7M +21.17 Paper, paperboard, pulp $363.5M −4.22 Mineral fuel, oil, bitumen substrate, mineral wax $287M +38.32 Wood, articles of wood, wood charcoal $274.2M −1.57 Electric machinery; sound, TV equipment $183.2M +5.12 Demand from Asia boosting sales at York shellfish dealer B y J a m e s M c C a r t h y Exports boost lobster numbers E X P O R T S & I M P O R T S F O C U S

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