Maine Lobster Prices?
 

We're headed to Maine next week and I just wondered: Can anyone there advise whether or not lobster is up or down this year?

I have heard that they're plentiful and CHEAP. I imagine others headed that way will be interested, too.

Thanks!

It would appear that prices are down:

http://money.cnn.com/2009/07/17/news...ion=2009071809

I saw roadside sign at small fish markets at $3.59/lb in mid-July. This may have been for soft shells. We ended up going to a lobster benefit dinner in Tenants Harbor for $17 got 1lb lobster, mussels, bag of chips, cole slaw, ear of corn, drink. Extra lobsters were $9/each. I forget what we paid for lobster rolls but I thought the price was up on them.

Prices per pound at road side market in Old Orchard Beach $3.79 per pound. Lobster rolls around town from $9.95-$14.95

They are cheap. Eat lots and lots of them and send them to everyone you know. Hopefully they will not be this cheap again.

You probably won't find them THIS cheap but here's an email we got this week:

http://www.weathervaneseafoods.com/e...03/voucher.htm

joesorce:

Thanks for the coupon(s)! I printed out two of them!

I guess I'll have to get some to toss on
the grill this weekend. Everybody spread
the word on this...let's keep the lobstermen
of New England in business. We can have our
own great tasting bailout program for them as
I'm sure they are lower on the goverment's
list than the inept auto makers and corrupt
bankers.

Softshells are $3.99 at local north of Boston markets - more for hard shells or larger lobsters.

If you are going to be cooking them yourself a tip for cooking the softer shelled lobsters is to steam rather than boil them - for about same amount of time. Sometimes soft shelled meat seems a little soggier if it is boiled.

We just got back from a wonderful week in lower midcoast Maine (south of Bath).

Here's what we found re lobster prices:

Several places along Route 1 and a bit off that major road had signs advertising lobsters for $3.50 to $4.00 a pound. When we stopped to check a couple of them out, we found that those prices were for "culls", typically smaller lobsters with one claw, for example. "Complete" lobsters were usually a bit more, as were larger ones. If you wanted them to cook them for you, that often cost another $1.50 to $2.00. Still not bad prices!

However, when we went to restaurants, we found that lobster dinners were costing plenty -- often the same as last year -- up in the low to mid teens and sometimes more. That seemed pretty crummy, frankly, since the folks hauling in lobsters were hurting and only able to get cheap prices!

Shaw's, a large place "mass production" place in Damariscotta, offered about the cheapest we saw. Their boiled lobsters cost about $11.95 for a 1-lb lobster, $17.95 for twins, and $23.95 for triples. DINNERS were a bit more. (You lined up, selected what you wanted, paid, and waited for your number to be called. You then got what you ordered on a tray and found a picnic table to sit at to eat.)
We seem to remember their lobsters costing a bit more last year.

However, some places actually were still charging $19.95 for a lobster dinner, and that seemed high. Shop around if you can.

By the way, Maxwell's, in downtown Bath, offers terrific deals for lunch, and maybe dinner, too, though we never went there for dinner. For $9.95, my wife enjoyed a very LARGE "small" seafood salad for lunch. It had what had to be a whole lobster tail plus one claw (already shelled), plus a LOT of real crabmeat and 12-15 reasonable sized shrimp -- all chilled -- on a nice big salad. She was very full after that! They offered a "large" version for $14.95, I think, but we cannot imagine one person eating that! (I saw a large one delivered to a woman across the room, and it was HUGE.)

Again, shop around to find what you like.

We had a lovely week at our cottage. Can't wait to go back next year!

I went to Thurston's in Bernard (on Mount Desert Island) a couple of weeks ago and prices at the time were (if I remember correctly) around $8.50/lb for small soft-shell (1-1.39 lbs) and $10 for small hard-shell. Per-pound prices were slightly higher for medium and large lobsters.

My mom and I ordered one (small) of each, plus one of their mussel dinners (1 lb of mussels, corn, slaw, roll, blueberry cake), an extra ear of corn, and 2 drinks for about $42, I think. It was more than enough for the two of us.

By comparison, Stewman's in Bar Harbor was charging a "market price" (yeah, right!) of $19.95 for a lobster by itself (don't remember if that was per pound or for a 1.25 pound one) and $29.95 for their Down East Lobster Experience (1.25 lb lobster plus clam chowder, steamed clams, corn on the cob, boiled potatoes, and blueberry pie). I thought that was ridiculous.

We just returned from NE and as RetiredVermonter said, the prices in Maine at the restaurants seemed high given the lower prices for buying them and cooking them yourselves. Same was true for the prices at the lobster pounds. Overall I had expected lower prices this year, but did not find that to be the case since we weren't equipped to cook them ourselves. In any case, they were great!

Well, what do you expect? Don't you expect to pay more for a bottle of wine in a restaurant? Unfortunately, the lobstermen here in Maine can barely pay for their fuel and supplies.

Mainely Delights, in Bass Harbor right across from the Swan's Island Ferry dock, has a 1 1/2 lb lobster dinner for 14.95. Its not Abel's (a nice place famous for attracting the Northeast Harbor old money crowd and occasionally Martha Stewart), but the owners and staff are fun and you can BYOB.

I saw new shell lobsters at Market Basket in NH for $3.99/lb - they will steam them for free. Hopefully they will still have some tomorrow night.

It wasn't a matter of paying more at a lobster pound or restaurant, of course that is expected. It was a matter of reading in the paper that lobsters were plentiful and prices had declined considerably. That gave me the impression that we could be paying less this year than in past summers. That was not the case. I certainly don't begrudge lobsterman and women from making $$, I was merely stating our experience.

It certainly can look disingenuous for restaurants to put that they charge "market price" for lobster when it is more like "whatever we think the market will bear" price! Charging patrons $20 per pound when they are paying lobstermen $4 per pound (or maybe even less) seems excessive.

On the other hand, maybe the markup is no worse for beef, chicken, etc. We (myself included) just don't usually stop to think about that.

Interesting responses! Hey, capitalism at its finest -- right? (!)

Not sure about price markups for beef, chicken, etc., but this is an obvious example of unfair market practices.

However, each time any of us go to one of the restaurants in question and go ahead and PAY those prices, instead of getting up and leaving, we encourage the practice to continue.

Warning: off-topic...

Similar problems exist in other markets, too, of course -- notably dairy farmers, in our state and in other dairy states, who are getting extremely low prices for their milk, while processors (who often control milk prices) continue to sell milk at high prices, and make huge profits. It's driving some dairy farmers out of business. So what? So it hurts a lot of established "little" farmers, especially, and it also will eventually cause milk prices to skyrocket needlessly.

Sad.

This year several Maine lobstermen have established direct-to-customer operations. The simplest is selling out of the back of a truck. Others have established co-ops and one is even offering a timeshare arrangement where you pay an annual fee for a "trap" and you get whatever is caught in that trap with a guaranteed minimum. They ship to out of staters primarily. There is a co-op in Rockland that works like a farm share, where you pay a weekly set fee and get a share of the catch each week. All very interesting!

Yes, capitalism at its finest. If anyone has read Omnivore's Dilemma you know that the beef, pork and poultry industries work quite differently.

I didn't mean to set off a firestorm of opinion, but I just think its so weird that folks coming to Maine are concerned about lobster prices and want to 'eat as much of it as possible'. But its all good for our local businesses so come on down (downeast that is!).

cindyj:

I have no complaint with the lobstermen -- none whatsoever. They work hard and have to struggle to make a living, I know.

My complaint is with those who are profiting big time by sucking up lobsters CHEAP from those lobstermen and then still sticking it to tourists.

I agree with RetiredVermonter. And I think we all agree that lobster is good eating.

In the DC area there have been folks that travel down weekly from Maine in refrigerated trucks selling lobsters and other seafood. U can order ahead and get live lobsters. The Coops described by cindyj sound interesting.

I also have to say these boards and the internet in general contribute to gathering and sharing as much info as possible b4 a trip anywhere. I've travelled to Maine for years and never really had a clue about lobster prices until I got there. But now there is so much availablity of info I get curious b4 going so can easily check it out and am always happy to report back actual experience when asked.