Lobster oversupply brings the Cadillac of shellfish to the masses

Lobster, that well-loved conduit for drawn butter and the go-to symbol for a posh meal, is becoming way more wallet-friendly. A Toronto Star article charts the crustacean’s journey from east coast bargain meal, to high-end dish, back to everyday foodstuff. The money fact: lobster is now cheaper than deli meat in some markets. Last week, oversupply pushed the price down to $2.50 a pound for fishermen in Maine and $4 in Canada (in December it hit as low as $3.25 to fishermen in Canada). The Atlantic provinces are bringing in some serious hauls: in 2010, the lobster catch weighed in at 64,000 tonnes, while in 1970 it was roughly 17,000 tonnes. Greg Roach, associate deputy minister in Nova Scotia’s Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture, believes “rigorous lobster management” is boosting the numbers. The bad news? Global warming may also be spurring the boom, and low prices are bad news for fishermen. Thus far, the lobster wave is already being felt in Toronto, and we expect the already popular lobster roll to cross over from seeming-ubiquity to actual ubiquity sometime this summer. (Side lobster note: the Drake launches its Sunday Lobster Fare menu this week, featuring one-pound lobster, one beer, a whack of sides and dessert, for $32.)  [Toronto Star]