March 18, 2014 — Lobster, long considered a luxury, is becoming a little more ordinary.
Soaring supply and falling prices for whole live lobster, along with new food trends, are changing how people eat the crustacean—perhaps for the long term.
Sandwich shop Quiznos, like other inexpensive chains, is adding more lobster dishes alongside its subs. Golden Corral, the buffet-style restaurants, has put lobster on the menu for the first time. Grocery stores from Whole Foods to Wal-Mart are stocking new lobster items such as frozen tails and cooked claws.
The most expensive restaurants are going beyond classic whole lobster or lobster tail and putting the crustacean in dishes such as pasta, soups and even chips.
It is rare dynamic in today's food world: Supply of lobster is plentiful and pushing down prices. This comes at a time when rising commodity costs are boosting the price of foods like beef and coffee. And much of the most popular seafood is being severely overfished. The supply of North Atlantic lobsters has steadily climbed for over a decade.
Supply is likely growing because of a combination of factors. Warming water in recent years may be boosting lobster population. Fishermen are following regulations that protect young and egg-bearing lobsters. And there has been a decline in recent decades of natural predators such as cod, which eat baby lobsters.
Lobster fishermen groups in the U.S. and Canada, the main areas where lobster is caught for the American market, say retail prices have fallen. In the past two years, the average price that Maine fishermen are paid for whole live lobster has been under $3 per pound, down from a high of $4.63 in 2005, according to the Maine Department of Marine Resources.
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