Maine fishermen declares that the prices of lobster has gone down so low that they are getting at $2.40 to $2.60 a pound, down from a $10 high in spring 2007. It is due to the current crisis in economy. John Godwin of Point Lobster Co. revealed that if the Canadian get a couple weeks of good fishing, it’s going to keep the price low. With their equipment, they can go fishing in weather when our boats would be tied up.
It is observed that the New Jersey lobstermen are getting slightly better prices at $3 to $3.25 a pound in recent days, but the consumer pullback in spending is affecting seafood businesses across the board. Increased government regulation over the years has taken away fishermen’s traditional flexibility to switch between species. It is told that the lobster deflation started with the bank panic in Iceland. By early October, the meltdown in credit reached Canadian seafood processors, who usually buy and freeze between 50 percent and 70 percent of Maine-caught lobsters.
Professor Robert Bayer, director of the Lobster Institute at the University of Maine, informed that the industry has seen nothing like this before. He added that for consumers, this will mean a reappearance of bargain lobster promotions in supermarkets. As for lobstermen, after seeing modest rises after the initial freeze-up, they saw prices drop again – and stay there.
Lobsterman Larry Knapp said that they see prices as low as $2.40 to $2.60 a pound while reports from harbors farther Down East came in at $2.25 a pound – seriously threatening the ability of fishing families to make it through this winter in rural counties with little other work available.
