Lobster now less expensive than hot dogs

[geetrue]

Looking for a bargain dinner? Try lobster

At a wholesale price of $2.25 lb

http://money.cnn.com/2009/07/17/news/economy/cheap_lobster_bargain.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2009071809

You don't need a Ph.D. in economics to know what happens when supply is up and demand is way down. The wholesale or "boat" price of lobsters has crashed from a peak price of about $10 a pound in the winter of 2006 -- average prices in recent years have hovered around $4.50 a pound -- to a mere $2.25 today.

"We're basically off the charts historically in terms of low prices for this time of year," says John Sackton, a Lexington, Mass.-based seafood industry consultant. (While retail prices vary widely by location, stores in New England have been running specials on live lobster for as little as $5 or $6 per pound.)

Add in the high price of diesel fuel and the rising price of herring that lobstermen use as bait -- herring has doubled in price since 2007 -- and the end result has been a kind of economic Nor'easter for the Maine lobstermen.

They're now losing money on every lobster they catch.
"Put it this way -- yesterday we spent $70 on fuel, $60 on bait and came home with $70 worth of lobsters," says Sheila Dassatt, herself a fourth-generation Maine lobsterman. ("Lobster-person" has yet to catch on with Mainers, perhaps because it sounds likes a creature from a gender-neutral horror flick.)

Local experts think lobster prices are headed even lower because the peak season for lobster fishing -- mid-August through late October -- hasn't even begun. Once those late summer and fall lobsters start hitting the docks, the fear is the new supply will crash prices even further in what's already a glutted market. "I have a strong feeling you'll see prices drop another 50 cents a pound," says Edward Hennessey Jr., president of northern Maine's Machias Savings Bank.

Some lobstermen worry that wholesalers will refuse to pay any price for their catch. To some extent, it's already happening. Drive the roads of coastal Maine, and you're likely to see roadside stands where lobstermen -- fed up with what they consider lowball prices from wholesalers and processors -- try to sell their lobsters direct to consumers.

[ETR3(SS)]

Time for a surf n' turf dinner!

[SUBMAN1]

Heading out for Lobster!

[Platapus]

The article did not go far enough about why the demand is so low.

Could it be because of the terribly high prices and the very small servings that many of the restaurants charge for lobster?

I, for one, was quite discouraged when we ordered lobster, paid a very high price and got what appeared to be just a very large shrimp.

I feel, that in some cases, the demand is down because people are sick of being ripped off by lobster so they no longer order it. At least that is why I don't any more.

I've never had lobster sadly, do love my seafood though.

mmmh fish.

[UnderseaLcpl]

Originally Posted by Platapus

The article did not go far enough about why the demand is so low.

Could it be because of the terribly high prices and the very small servings that many of the restaurants charge for lobster?

Yes, actually, that's exactly right. Of course, in a healthy economy, people have disposable income to waste on semi-delicacies like lobster, which makes demand go up.

I, for one, was quite discouraged when we ordered lobster, paid a very high price and got what appeared to be just a very large shrimp.

I wouln't even give it that much credit. Imo, shrimp tastes a lot better, even if it is still kind of pricey.

I feel, that in some cases, the demand is down because people are sick of being ripped off by lobster so they no longer order it. At least that is why I don't any more.

This is not some phenomenon where people suddenly realized that lobster is expensive and simultaneously decided that they didn't like it anymore, it is a perfectly normal function of supply and demand. They have less money, so they spend less on frivolous goods.

Demand for lobster is probably just as high as it usually is, although I can't understand the demand for it, personally. It's too bad that so many people aren't as practical-minded as you. I imagine that people usually pay premium prices for lobster for the same reason that they pay premium prices for fish eggs or squid-flesh; there is a perceived value in its' rarity, if not its' palatability.

[geetrue]

Lobster taste a lot better when it's free ...

I was stationed in Portland, Maine back in the mid-sixties we had our own lobster traps. The cook put lobster on the menu all the time.

The captain came back to the ship late one night and asked me for my 45 (I was standing topside watch).

What are you suppose to do ... he's the captain, right?

He says, clip?

I gave him the clip ... he loads it and starts firing at a lobster bouy too close to the ship. He hands the 45 back and says, "It wasn't one of ours" and goes on board.

Now I have to explain why I have an empty clip to the next watch. So I wrote it all down in the log and slept tight.

No one ever said anything ...

[SUBMAN1]

Originally Posted by Rilder

I've never had lobster sadly, do love my seafood though.

mmmh fish.

Well pony-up and go get some!

-S

[Jimbuna]

Lobster is an expensive dish in the UK....but well worth the cost if you can afford it

This thread has got me starting to save for my next experience.

[nikimcbee]

Now how 'bout some lobster hotdogs... I'd go for that!

[geetrue]

Originally Posted by nikimcbee

Now how 'bout some lobster hotdogs... I'd go for that!

Order up!

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by nikimcbee

Now how 'bout some lobster hotdogs... I'd go for that!

I've got crabs if you'd like some

Lobsters are a delicacy here too, pretty pricey. Although I haven't checked the latest prices. And I probably wouldn't have the heart to cook those poor buggers alive.

[SteamWake]

They arent really lobsters but they taste like them and they call them Lobsters. We used to grab up Florida Lobsters (or spiny crayfish) off the ocean bottom in the florida keys and toss em in a pot of boiling water. Talk about fresh ! The biggest difference is that florida lobsters dont have the huge claws.

The price was right too a few scrapes and cuts thats about it.

The biggest risk by far was that these spiny critters liked to share holes with moray eels. One of those eels grab you, even a small one, the only way to get them to let go was to chop their heads off That is if they dident just sever your fingers off in the first place. They would grab on and not let go anchor their tails into the rocks and hold you down till you ran out of air or chopped their heads off.

Nowadays you have to have some sort of license

[FIREWALL]

Still overpriced here.