Mayor in Hubei steps forward to help lobster farmers

A mayor in Hubei province on Saturday promoted locally raised lobsters at a news conference in a bid to promote its lackluster sales amid the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Gong Dingrong, mayor of Qianjiang, said the epidemic - which hit the province hard - had triggered travel restrictions and led to the disruptions of logistic chains and the shutdowns of street-side eateries.

Gong said the city has sold only 150,000 kilograms of baby lobsters so far, only half of the amount in the same period last year at halved price.

The epidemic has also affected the transporting of grown lobsters, which should have been sent to consumers nationwide by the same period in the past.

To address the woes, local authorities have sent out trucks and personnel to buy the lobsters from farmers and sell the products to buyers in areas including Shanghai, Chongqing, and Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces.

The daily trade volume has reached over 400 metric tons, he said.

The authorities also called upon major businesses to open up and share their cold storage space and buy the lobsters, he said.

To shore up sales, local government also livestreamed the city's harvest season on several online platforms.

Gong said the program has got more than 100 million views.