In late September we will make our annual trek to Maine to see some leaves and eat lobster. Rumor has it that fresh lobster is scarce and more expensive. Very disappointing if true. Can some of you locals, or recent visitors provide good info that's not rumors.thanks

I was in Maine two weeks ago. Fresh lobster was neither rare nor expensive (retail). 1.25 lb lobsters were going for about $6-7 dockside.


For dinner, prices were a little higher than I've seen outside of tourist season - one lobster dinner for $25, two for $35 to 40 was the going rate. Lobster rolls ranged from $16 to $20.

Late fall or winter I could get two for $30 or less, and lobster rolls for $12 to $15.

Nah, you're worried for nothing. Red's Lobster Rolls are $24 this year and they were up to $26 last year. Market prices everywhere else are about the same as last year, maybe a buck higher in some spots. You're smart, you go at the best time of year when the tourists have departed and the "twin lobster deals" pop up everywhere. Get ready!

In Massachusetts most of the lobsters sold are from Maine - prices here are similar to past years. If there was a shortage, it would be a big news story.

The real issue with September lobsters is that they are in their moulting season.

Last year's shell is coming off to accommodate growth, and the new shell is leathery rather than hard. You open the lobster, and it looks like nothing is there because it will take a season to fill the shell. Tastes fine, but ask if you are picking your own lobster.

In crabs, this soft shell or "buster" crab stage is considered a feature. In lobsters, it is considered a bug.*


*Wordplay joke.

In MA we paid $14.99 a pound for 1.25 let's and there was no shortage that we can see.

Chicken lobsters have been $5.99 per pound all summer at a couple of the big supermarket chains around Boston., and dockside on Cape Ann. The past few summers, prices have been even less, but not this year. I read one story earlier in the season about supposed shortages, so wonder if that is responsible for slightly higher prices, although the supply at retail outlets does not visibly seem to reflect that.

Those Maine prices seem high compared to what we pay in Rhode Island and Connecticut, which is more like $16.

$16 for a lobster roll.

This is the menu (with prices) for a popular restaurant (actually there is more than one) in the beach area just north of Boston.
http://thebeachplum.net/Portsmouth-E...2016_MENUS.pdf

There is a business which advertises constantly on Facebook which will ship 6 frozen Maine lobster tails for $139. They average 4 to 5 oz each, so I figure that's something like $80 a pound. People rave. Seriously?