Lobster is costlier than usual this year because of a limited supply, higher demand along with the reopening of this market as the country moves beyond the coronavirus pandemic.
Rates are lingering from the 13 or $14 range . Lobster is generally costly in late spring, but this year has seen costs which are greater than typical.
The wholesale cost for live, 1.25-pound lobsters at the New England marketplace has been $9.01 percent on May 1, company writer Urner Barry reported. That was approximately $2.70 per pound over the prior May 1, along with the maximum cost for this date in five or more decades, the business reported.
The large lobster prices are a sign that clients are wanting to return to restaurants, which high-end fish is in high demand, said John Sackton, a business analyst and founder of SeafoodNews.com.
“It is the power of meals support, and seeking to gear up for what they believe will be a powerful summertime,” Sackton said. “That is pushing the cost on lots of these items which may draw visitors and are sort of must-have a casino menu or anything like this.”
Other variables influencing the large costs include a shortage of available stock and what seems to be quite a slow start to the fishing period. New England’s busiest freshwater fishing season occurs in summertime, and lots of harvesters are only beginning to receive their traps to the water.
“The fishermen will inform you, check back in the close of the year, then they will know if they had a fantastic season,” explained Beth Casoni, executive director of the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association.
U.S. freshwater fishing relies mostly in Maine, although many lobsters also arrive back in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire. Fishermen was able to get a successful season in 2020 regardless of the financial harm brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.
Maine anglers attracted over 96 million pounds of lobsters into the docks, and while that has been the lowest total as 2010, it was much greater than they generally captured in the 1990s.
