PITTSFIELD, Mass. — March 29, 2013 — The weather out at sea is putting lobster-lovers in a pinch by driving up the price.
Stormy, late-winter weather on the East Coast has put a damper on the catch, and the lack of supply means the crustaceans' cost is spiking in markets and restaurants.
"Right now, the weather is brutal," said Charleston Santos, the fish buyer at Guido's Fresh Marketplace on South Street in Pittsfield. "There's nobody out there to catch them, to fish them out."
Live, hard-shell lobsters are supplied to Guido's by True World Foods in New Jersey. The last quote Santos received for a shipment of live lobsters was $12.99 a pound, he said.
Currently, lobsters at Guido's run $14.99 a pound because of the season, but typically sell for between $8.99 and $10.99.