It is no denying fact that global economy meltdown has affected many business and markets. Lobster sales and markets south of the border of USA is one of them. The economic turmoil happening in the United States is causing deep concern for lobster fishermen in Maine who have been seeing their lobsters selling for $3 a pound or less.
The Maine Lobstermen’s Association has discussed the global financial crisis and the implications of that crisis on their lobster catches and markets. The Association said that Maine lobster has been selling for less than $3 a pound along the coast and they’ve even heard some prices paid have been as low as $2.50. The product, the association says, is not moving at all and the price is expected to continue to fall.
According to the association the processing industry in Canada has been affected by a lack of credit and soft consumer market. It also informed that some Canadian processors have stopped buying the product because some already have a lot of inventory on hand. Even the demand for live and processed lobster has gone weak in the United States. Fewer consumers are eating out regularly, and those who do cannot afford an expensive meal.
The Maine Lobster Promotion Council (MLPC) has a few initiatives in the works. The council has set up a promotion through some supermarkets to retail lobster at as low a price as possible and the retailers will trim their margin significantly to help move product. It has also created a public service announcement to run on radio stations in Maine and hope to reach out to the Boston market.
