Lobster the New Bologna?

In 1621 after the Mayflower colonists settled, the Atlantic lobster was so plentiful along the coast of Massachusetts that the colonists perceived lobster as a trashfish, the food one ate if one had nothing better. So common were lobsters that the colonists, in emulation of the native population, picked lobster up at low tide along the kelp beds and used them as fertilizer for their crops. In 1623 Governor William Bradford was heartily embarrassed that the colonists had nothing better to serve the new arrivals than native lobster. Even decades later, young lads were sent to catch lobster from tide pools when household budgets and food fell short.

We should be so lucky—and maybe, just maybe, we will be. There is apparently a bit of a lobster glut in Canada. The warehouses of the Atlantic provinces are filled with unsold frozen lobster. As of last January, Canadian processor, mostly located on Prince Edward Island, had frozen lobster worth $30 million or more in their freezers. If they can't sell it before the spring season starts, there's a good chance that lobster prices will fall dramatically—and that's very bad news for the lobsterers, who were already hard hit by the recession. During last year's fishing season off the coast of Nova Scotia, prices for fresh lobster on the wharf fell to $3.50 per pound. The fall in price was drastic enough in Maine that the state had a series of commissions about what to do with the dramatic fall in the boat price for lobster. Fishermen have been hit very very hard by the fall all over New England as well as Canada's maritimes.

In an effort to move the succulent seafood before this year's crop arrives, the Canadian Department of Agriculture and local authorities in the Maritimes have come up with $500,000 to develop a marketing plan. Part of the problem, according to the marketers, is that lobster is seen as a luxury item, and it's priced accordingly; hence there have been some lobster pricing comparisons to bologna, pound for pound. That's not the case in my area, but I'm perfectly willing to do my part in terms of lobster consumption; I'm not sanguine about dramatic price reductions though, given that it takes an Atlantic lobster roughly seven years of life to reach 1lb in size, the smallest legal lobster catch.

It wasn't that long ago in coastal Atlantic lobster fishing areas that kids who brought lobster rolls to school were seen as too poor to afford bologna. That said, were lobster to approach the price of say, chicken breast, I'd be interested. Lobster is one of those ingredients that can be thoroughly enjoyed even in small quantities, especially as an ingredient in chowders, bisques and pasta sauces, though my absolute favorite is a freshly made lobster roll, on a butter-toasted bun, with a minimum of mayo. That pretty much means a lobster roll purchased in one place in Maine, but I'm willing to try to prefect the dish locally. In all seriousness, I will be keeping the fate of the lobstermen in mind. It's hard, dangerous, and very seasonal work, by people who really are the salt of the earth.