Vince Mortillaro, one of the owners of the Gloucester-based family lobster business that bears his name, is watching the evolving trade dispute with Sweden and potentially the rest of the European Union over American lobsters and he doesn’t particularly like what he’s seeing.
“We’re talking about a big chunk of everybody’s business,” Mortillaro said Tuesday when asked about Sweden’s attempt to convince the entire European Union — which numbers 28 member states — to ban the import of American lobsters to Europe. “Between the U.S. and Canada selling lobsters and the European Union buying and reselling them, we’re probably talking about a $1 billion business.”
Exactly how 32 American lobsters wound up in Swedish waters isn’t clear. But because some of them were wearing the rubber bands that are put on lobsters’ claws in captivity, many suspect the shellfish had been exported to Europe and then either escaped into the wild or were set free by animal rights activists.
