Historic prices for lobster.
Fisheries Advisor with the Maritime Fishermen’s Union Luc Leblanc says product is selling for over $17 dollars a pound currently, “These are unparalelled ever. We’ve never seen prices like this ever. These are probably pandemic related. There is really high demand, global demand for lobster right now, particularly frozen products. But we’ve never seen this before.”
Leblanc expects prices will come down by around 15 to 20 per cent in the coming months because there will be an influx once lobster season starts.
But he says they’ll probably never return to pre-pandemic levels, “If you look at the expenses that are incurred, the price of fuel probably went up 40 per cent and that is probably one of the major expenses for fishermen. Because there is a global demand for lobster, what people are paying at wharves in the Maritimes also depends on what customers are willing to pay. For example, in New York or Shanghai, the global demand is there and it doesn’t seem to be diminishing in any sort of way at this particular point in time. Unfortunately, this will probably mean that some will be priced out of the market at some restaurants in particular. But for every person who is forced out, there are three of our people who want in on a global scale. I think demand is going to be there forever.”
