After four difficult years Australia’s rock lobster industry is celebrating the lifting of China’s ban on live lobster imports. It re-opens a lucrative market, but some are cautious about how much it should be relied on. Also, the bad news is it's likely to lift local lobster prices for Australians.
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00:003rd generation rock lobster fisherman Bryce Way has built a following online, sharing
00:09his adventures on the water.
00:11But while he loves the job, China's ban on imports of live lobsters from Australia has
00:18made it hard.
00:19The industry itself, it is struggling.
00:21Fishermen are struggling.
00:22We're all at breaking point.
00:25Now China's lifting that ban, four years after it was imposed, restoring access, by
00:31the end of this year, to what was previously a $700 million a year export industry.
00:38I'm hoping this will be some light at the end of the tunnel.
00:40There might still be struggles in different areas, but hopefully the crews and the people
00:44that make everything run might make a dollar now, that's sort of the important thing.
00:49The news has been welcomed by rock lobster fishers and processors across the country.
00:54We've tried to establish other markets, the processors have done the best job they can,
00:57but really people just won't pay the money that China will pay.
01:02China really, really love the lobster, which is great for us.
01:06But the sector says they'll be returning with caution, not wanting to rely too heavily on
01:12one market.
01:13We'll pick up the live lobster from where we left off, but certainly keep our mind on
01:19the other markets, and particularly the local market.
01:21I don't think China will be the same market as what it was when we left off.
01:28China has already lifted bans on Australian wine, coal, timber and barley.
01:33The Federal Government, arguing its success removing trade barriers, is proof its diplomatic
01:38strategy is working.
01:40And our approach has paid dividends for Australians, for Australian businesses and for Australian
01:47workers.
01:48While the ban lifting in time for the highly lucrative Chinese New Year is good for the
01:52local lobster industry, as demand for lobster grows, its likely prices will too, including
01:58in Australia.
01:59An industry hoping for smoother seas ahead.