The size of the lobster catch is bigger than ever, thanks to excellent oversight of Maine’s lobster fishery. Maine lobstermen caught 67 million pounds of the crustaceans last year, 4 million more than in 2007 and triple the amount caught 20 years ago.
Of course you don’t need a Ph.D. in economics to know what happens when supply is up and demand is way down. The wholesale or "boat" price of lobsters has crashed from a peak price of about $10 a pound in the winter of 2006 — average prices in recent years have hovered around $4.50 a pound — to a mere $2.25 today.
"We’re basically off the charts historically in terms of low prices for this time of year," says John Sackton, a Lexington, Mass.-based seafood industry consultant.