The Price of a Lobster

An article in today’s Maine Sunday Telegram traces the route and mark-up from the few bucks per pound paid to a lobstermen on the dock to the $17+ that will be charged at a restaurant.

Once caught, a lobster can change hands five to seven times before it reaches a diner’s plate.

Lobstermen this summer are getting paid as little as $2 to $2.50 a pound for their catch — the lowest level in 30 years — but the price escalates to $17 a pound or higher by the time a customer orders a lobster in a restaurant.

The paper also continues their reporting on the recent conflict in Canada about processors importing inexpensive Maine lobsters.

Three Sons, Lobster Protests & Restaurant Lobster Pricing

Today’s Press Herald includes an investigation into why restaurant pricing of lobster dishes hasn’t dropped as fast or as low as the price paid to lobstermen,

By the time that bright-red lobster lands in front of a customer in a Maine restaurant, those low dock prices of $2 or $2.50 a pound are more like a distant murmur than the issue that’s causing all that shouting by lobstermen up in Canada, who are worried that their livelihood is threatened by the cheap Maine lobster flowing to processing plants north of the border.

the latest in the ongoing controversy in Canada over the processing of Maine lobster,

The judge granted an injunction that orders protesters not to block entrances to lobster processing plants for the next 10 days. The order says no more than six people can protest at a time, and they must stay at least 200 feet from the plants.

Canadian lobstermen protested the delivery of Maine lobsters to Canadian processors last week by blocking access to the facilities. They said Canadians could not compete with the low price of the imported product.

and an article about the eviction of Three Sons Lobster from their digs on Commercial Street.

The owner of Three Sons Lobster and Fish on Commercial Street was evicted Thursday, but he’s hoping a last-minute bankruptcy filing will allow him to reopen at the same location.

Longfin Squid

Working Waterfront has published an article about the emerging squid fishery and market in Maine.

Culinary trends can be tricky to predict with the recent trend to sample both exotic and local foods—sometimes on the same plate. The roster of locally available foods is well known, and here in Maine one can expect rather hearty fare; potatoes, lobster, apples and kale are among the offerings, but lately there’s been a newcomer by way of Port Clyde Fresh Catch (PCFC). Though once considered the province of the adventurous gastronomic, squid have found a place among the palate of Maine eaters, and PCFC can barely keep up with demand.

AP on the Out of the Blue Program

The Associated Press has written an article about GMRI’s program to get Maine chef’s to put unappreciated fish on the menu.

Twenty Maine restaurants from Kittery to Bar Harbor put Acadian redfish dishes on their menus in June, and 23 eateries served up menu items with Atlantic mackerel in July as part of an effort to raise public awareness — and demand — for unappreciated seafood species.

 

Nonesuch Oyster Expansion

The Forecaster has a report on the expansion of Nonesuch Oysters in Scarborough.

Farm expansion plans were approved July 16 by the Maine Department of Marine Resources, with a three-year lease on a site adjacent to 4.5 acres she already uses to moor floating mesh bags of virginicus oysters.

Carroll will gain more room for the second stage of oyster cultivation, in a setting DMR officials have determined provides plenty of water flow and nutrients for her crops, without interfering with navigation or other river uses.

Bar Review of Rivalries

Today’s Press Herald includes a bar review of Rivalries.

Rivalries is hands-down a sports pub, but with flare. With black tables and chairs contrasted with light walls and exposed beams upstairs, the pub’s decor makes a nice place to gather and watch a game.

Also in today’s paper is an article on lobster pricing and the latest installment of the What Ales You column.

2012 Lobster Glut

Today’s Maine Sunday Telegram includes a front page report on what lobstermen are doing (or not) in response to the high supply and low price of Maine lobsters.

They can’t talk about the historically high supply of their product. They can’t talk about the historically low prices they are getting for their catch. They can’t talk about whether they have agreed to keep their boats tied up until things improve — because talking about it might imply that it’s a concerted effort and a concerted effort would be a violation of federal anti-trust laws.

Marketing Soft Shell Lobster & an Editorial on Industrial Fishing

Today’s Press Herald reports on efforts by Maine’s Lobster Advisory Council to improve the perception of soft shell lobsters.

Soft-shells are lobsters that have molted recently, shedding their old hard shells so they can grow into new, larger shells. They have less meat per pound than hard-shells, but that meat is perceived as more tender and sweet. And they’re easier to crack and eat.

So what’s so bad?

Also in today’s paper is a Maine Voices editorial by the Kim Libby from Port Clyde.

The hundreds of fishermen in our region — the small, day-boat fleet that brings fresh seafood to your dinner table and the charter boat captains who take you out on the water to catch fish yourself — are paying the price for the mistakes of a few new-to-the-region industrial ships.

New England Fishing Stocks Remain Low

Today’s Press Herald includes a report on the disappointing state of New England fish stocks.

It’s not a bad day, given the state of the Gulf of Maine’s fisheries, but all told there are just 25,000 pounds of product on the floor. Bert Jongerden, the exchange’s general manager, estimates that the publicly owned facility is on target for 5 million to 6 million pounds in 2012, ahead of the record low of 3.8 million pounds in 2010, but a fraction of the 20 million pounds it took in annually in the 1990s.