New Brunswick lobster prices reach record high

The McCavour family doesn't just know its lobster, the Saint Johners live and breathe the costly crustacean.

Kenny McCavour has been a fisherman for 32 years, now searching for lobster in the Bay of Fundy with his two sons.

In addition to operating Whitetail Fisheries, he and wife Karen also run Lorneville Lobster Shop. She rather aptly calls herself the lobster lady.

So when you hear the McCavours say lobster wholesale and retail prices are at one of the highest levels they've ever seen, you listen up.

Well, maybe not everyone.

"A lot of people complain and hang up the phone when they hear the price," said Kenny McCavour.

New Brunswickers aren't the only ones facing heftier market/restaurant bills for lobster.

A commodities publishing service in the United States, Urner Barry, released figures last week showing lobster wholesale prices have reached a 10-year high across North America. 

Just how much?

The McCavour's lobster shop charges $3.00 more a pound for shelled lobster meat compared to last year.

The price had increased $4.00 per pound the year before, and more of the same in the years before.

If you're looking for a hard-shelled lobster, the price has also risen $3.00 at Peter's Meat Market in Fredericton, coming in at $13.99 per pound.

Manager Yvonne Bland says she's never seen higher prices, except for a shortage during Valentine's Day a few years ago.

"The price keeps going up," said Bland.

Why the price hike?

Why is it costing both arms and legs — as opposed to just one of each — to chow down on the classic Maritime meal?

In short, demand keeps going up while the amount of lobster harvested in Canada seems to be levelling off this year after a decade of increasing harvests, according to the Lobster Council of Canada.

"As there's less raw material to produce and less raw material to sell, prices naturally go up," said Geoff Irvine, executive director.

Irvine says 180 million pounds of lobster were harvested in Canada last year, but instead of that number increasing it will likely stay the same for 2016.

Kenny McCavour believes the low Canadian dollar also has a role to play in the price increase.

Helps exports, hurts shop

The export side of the McCavours' business is thriving as a result of high prices, but the shop is hurting.

Higher lobster prices mean less purchases.

"We're probably down 50 per cent from six years ago," said McCavour.

He does expect prices to dip again in the fall because of the November harvest.

But the price roller coaster doesn't end there; he expects it could go up again in the lead-up to Christmas.

"People love their Christmas lobsters," said McCavour.