2-pound lobsters in short supply this season, national lobster council says

If you're hoping to crack into a two-pound lobster in Atlantic Canada this Christmas you might be out of luck. And if you do find one, expect to pay a premium price for it.

According to one retailer, the price for market lobsters hovers around $11 to $13 a pound, the select (two pound) or jumbo (over two pound) lobsters can fetch up to $18 a pound.

Geoff Irvine, executive director of the Lobster Council of Canada, says that's reasonable given the shore price of $9 a pound.

Irvine says prices are up because the demand is high for larger lobsters in China and the U.S., and the catch off southwest Nova Scotia this fall is "trending toward smaller lobsters."

"Classic supply and demand," he said. "The amount of jumbos that come out of the current fishing is not enough to provide what we need."

More lobster to China

Because of its trade dispute with the U.S., China has been buying more Canadian lobster, Irvine said. And the preference there is the larger, two-pound variety because it's a custom to share a lobster during a meal, he said.

So the question is, are the lobster there and they're just not trapping and will be caught in the spring? I guess that remains to be seen.— Geoff Irvine

"They're willing to pay a higher price to get the larger lobster and that means that if we have them in the local market they're just going to be more expensive," Irvine said.

Also contributing to higher lobster prices this season is the low supply. Irvine said the fall inventory was the lowest he's seen in 10 years, and the overall catch this season is "certainly down," mainly due to stormy weather and cold ocean water.

"So the question is, are the lobster there and they're just not trapping and will be caught in the spring? I guess that remains to be seen."

Irvine said the danger now is that the lobster industry prices itself out of the market.

"We've done it to ourselves in every seafood sector all the time in Canada — we push and push and push until the market says, 'No thanks, I'll go to beef or crab or something else,'" he said.

Worldwide market

"And that's the challenge we have.... There's some fear on the shipping side that this is going up too fast."

Because lobster is a worldwide market, prices are going to fluctuate, Irvine said.

"We may not like it but you have to think about the bigger picture and the jobs and the tax revenue and the return value to Canada," he said.

"That's unfortunately one of the side-effects, is that maybe sometimes we can't afford to enjoy it."

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