Lobster: It's What's for Dinner

The thing I feared and wrote about in Lobster the New Bologna has come to pass.

It's been a great summer of lobster, and so the price per pound is dropping. That's super for consumers, but not so good for the Maine lobstermen. Demand from restaurants, where customers consider ordering lobster a "celebration" and thus expensive, has also dropped. People are lobster potswatching their money ever more carefully these days. In most cases the price for lobster is left off menus (coded as "market price") so customers don't know that a large catch, and a decrease in demand has driven the price for lobster way way down. Wholesale has been as low as $2.25 a pound this summer, off the boats, from a high of about $10.00 in the winter of 2006. I've seen prices in Washington that match the current low prices in New England grocery stores for live lobster; about $5.00 or $6.00 a pound.

But the lobstermen's prices for fuel and bait (typically herring, which has gone up dramatically in price) keep rising. And we're not even at the peak season for Maine lobster—that's from about mid August to late October. Do yourself and the Maine lobstermen a favor. Next time you're eyeing that juicy steak for a special dinner, just double check the price for lobster instead; it might make an occasion into a fun celebration at no extra cost. If you're not up to a lobster boil, consider broiled lobster tails.