Maine lobsters selling for less than $3 a pound

The economic turmoil happening around the globe, and in particular 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.

And on Tuesday, Oct. 14, SeafoodNews.com was reporting that the lobster price decline had hit historic proportions with boat prices falling to $2 or $2.25 in some areas. The website was reporting that lobster was now less expensive than hamburger.

Considering that the United States is a large market for Canadian fisheries, this news is troubling to fishermen, fish buyers and processors on this side of the border as fishing starts in lobster fishing area 35 in the Bay of Fundy this week and fishermen off southwestern Nova Scotia prepare to head to sea in another month and a half.

The Maine Lobstermen’s Association recently held an emergency meeting to talk about the global financial crisis and the implications of that crisis on their lobster catches and markets. The news was not good and there is no expectation of things improving anytime soon.

As a result, the association’s board will be meeting twice a week to identify things it might be able to do to influence the situation and get its membership through the crisis.

In an update to the association’s membership, the Maine Lobstermen’s Association says 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.

And the drop in prices come amid an increase in expenses like fuel and bait.

The association has told its membership that the processing industry in Canada has been affected by a lack of credit and soft consumer market. It says some Canadian processors have stopped buying the product because some already have a lot of inventory on hand, others can’t get the credit they need to buy the product, and others don’t want to generate more supply than they can sell.

Consumer demand for live and processed lobster is also weak in the United States. Fewer consumers are eating out regularly, and those who do cannot afford an expensive meal. The Boston Globe reports that some restaurant have been asked to lower their prices for a lobster meal to make them more affordable to the public.

Demand has also softened from cruise ships and casinos due to poor economic conditions. This has resulted in an overall decline in demand for lobster says the association.

Maine lobster fishermen and dealers are experiencing a variety of conditions. Some are able to move product through live markets or processors who are still operating. Others are not able to move their product.

There is talk in Maine, along with some general agreement, that given the slack demand, it would be prudent to limit the supply of lobster to prevent a glut in the market. But there hasn’t been agreement on the best way to achieve this.

There isn’t support to shut down the fishery and stop the supply of lobster.

Other ideas being thrown around include lobster fishermen limiting fishing so lobsters are not landed unless they can be sold. Another suggestion is the government should intervene to slow the supply of Maine lobster entering the market, so that supply is not outpacing demand.

Other ideas have include taking a week off, limiting the fishery to a certain number of days per week and taking traps out of the water to limit the catch.

But, none of these ideas come with a guarantee that any such actions would lead to a better price or stabilize the market.

The goal, however, remains to bring supply back in line with demand.

Some lobster fishermen at co-ops have agreed not to fish unless they are able to sell their product for a minimum price, and many dealers on an individual basis are asking lobstermen not to fish, because they simply can't move the product. But there are also reports of people fishing anyway, hoping to just sell somewhere else at whatever price they can get.

The Maine Lobster Promotion Council (MLPC) has a few initiatives in the works. It 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 created a public service announcement to run on radio stations in Maine and hope to reach out to the Boston market.

In its Massachusetts report, the North Atlantic Lobster Coalition was also citing week demand and low prices in its report for the week of Oct. 6.



Lobsters just aren’t moving in the market, the coalition reported, adding there never has been a big market demand at this time of year but the poor economy has further hurt retail sales and restaurant businesses, both of which move lobsters.

Lower lobster prices in the retail market, the coalition said in its report, are not likely to generate any significant increase in demand at this time.

Lobster just isn’t on the minds of people it said.

Canadian processors have a backlog of product – their sales aren’t going well either, the coalition reported, saying some Canadian processors were still buying product but some others had stopped buying and more processors may pull out soon. Only a few Maine pounds were buying up Maine lobsters to hold. It is expected that there’ll be less put away this year than in years past.



The supply is considered more than adequate for the light demand. Maine lobsters were available but few were coming into the Boston market because they’re weren’t needed since there are plenty of lobsters in stock. Some Maine co-ops, the coalition said, reportedly have advised their fishermen to stop fishing or the price is likely to drop further.