Where have all the Lobsters gone?
 

in the past, the DC area has had a live lobster sale at all the chain grocery stores for most every holiday. this year, no lobster sale at easter, mother's day, father's day, memorial day or independence day.

a couple years ago, there was a lobster glut, now no cheap lobsters.

Must all be in central TX, lobster has been on sale each holiday so far, even huge tanks brought in to keep them live and on display. Along with various crab, crawfish etc, it is that time of year here :)

Maybe chain grocery stores in the DC area.. had their supply chain cut off by the FDA for safety reasons..

Did you ask at the store?

They have been on sale here in the Philly area. All of the supermarkets, Acme, Genuardi's even Wegmans have had them on sale.
I just picked up 3 at my favorite lobster place in Pt. Pleasant Beach, NJ this morning. Dinner tonight will be wonderful!!!:D

Your response showed up on my BB..

salivating thinking about your supper for about ten minutes..:D

"Where have all the lobsters gone and where are all the cods"

No one else got Bonnie Tyler in their heads then? Just me?

I was thinking Paula Cole and where have all the cowboys gone?

i think it came from "where have all the flowers gone?" from pete seger.he took the words from a 1934 russian novel. i first heard him sing the song at MIT when an undergrad in the late 50's. dedicated it to a british dutchess who wanted to know where all the american soldiers were in WWII.

about 20 others have recorded it after seger.

for those on the west coast they have an annual lobster festival at the port of los angeles, low prices and they're main lobsters not those other ones that come from mexico

I agree Jer, for years most average grocery stores here in the Chicago area had a live lobster tank, now it is very rare to find.

The following applies to those in the Chicago area looking for lobsters:

So I switched to a lobster wholesaler which was somewhat near me (Supreme Lobster in Villa Park IL www.supremelobster.com ) but Supreme Lobster's prices have kept going up and the very knowledgeable counter help has been replaced with a bunch of apathetic idiots, so my search continued.

I now buy my live lobsters at Sea World Food Market 1130 W Argyle St, Chicago, IL 60640 Phone: (773) 334-5335. Price for live lobsters is usually $8.95lb and they have been delicious & sweet the few times I've used them so I will keep going back.

American I.N.S. got wind of their migratory routes ( no passports or travel documents) thru Canada and around Mexico and put a stop to that !! :D

In the DC metro area, I saw a few weeks ago that the Wegmans Fairfax location (off Monument Drive) was selling lobsters for $9.99/lb. I thought that was a good price.

The supply glut in lobsters was due to increased harvests and a weak economy (following the 2008 financial crisis). Although the lobster catch is still pretty big, the economy is stronger now, along with demand for lobster.

Point Lobster Company?? Did they have the shredders yet for $2.99/lb?? Love that place..

There have been a few stories this weekend (it's not just hot dog and burger type stories) that have said that so far, this is on track to be yet another record breaking season for the amount of lobsters caught (as was last year).

One would think that would translate into the every other week sales we were enjoying last year, but so far at least locally there has only been one sale, when last year by this time there were three or four.

There are a few factories that are churning out packaged lobster dishes frozen for those people who don't want to deal with a live lobster (or can't get them locally) but they can't be possibly be taking up the slack in the higher volume.

There's still quite a bit of the summer left, so hoping the glut of last year returns when the season gets into full swing, and prices come back down to past years levels (we were enjoying them for $3.99 or $4.99 a lb most of last summer, every other week)

for that price, I too, would be enjoying them every other week, NICE !

Exactly!!! I love that place. I was in there on Saturday, they had a huge supply of Dungeness crabs as well as Alaskan King Crab Legs...plus all kinds of fresh locally caught fluke, cod and other fish.

No sign of the shredders yet...but they should be coming soon!

Yeah, it was a great summer. There was sometimes a limit (eight) so one family would get eight, we would get eight, hit the farm for some fresh corn, have two turkey fryers boiling water for the potatoes, corn, clams, carrots and lobsters. There was no better way to spend the Saturday nights than the end of the street clambakes.

It is the most asked question of the season (including the stores facebook feeds) when are the lobsters on sale again?

phillygold.. I will be there August 19th till the 26th perhaps a mini DO is in order :) Actually going to PHL with my 14 y/o son for 2 days. Independence Park, Italian Market, Redding Market, Phillies Game ( what sold out already against the Mets? ) if you care to recommend any PHL Foodie Finds my PM box is always open. My Mom lives 15 minutes from Point Lobster Company..

Also a number of the Canadian processing centers which handle a bulk of the lobster processing shut down in 2008/9 as a result of the Iceland currency crises. When I was up in Portland, ME summer of 2009 I could buy Lobster for $3 to $4/lbs

Maine. And you can enjoy them quite cheaply. ^

Crustacia.

The sales of Maine lobsters are starting to come in.

$6.99 a lb last week and the week before

$4.99 a lb this week.

They are new shelled, but I like those so I don't care.

What are "shredders"?

One of the claws is called a shredder, I believe it's the smaller of the two, one crushes, the other shreds.

A lobster is called a shedder (no r) when it's in it's new shell. Lobsters shed their hard shells and have a soft shell for part of the year. The soft shell is larger (the lobster will grow into it) and there is a huge debate over which is better, a hard shell or a soft shell. Maine lobsters are for example coming in soft and hard shell now, soft shells usually run July to October. They sell for less because people don't like them as much, they don't think they are a good value (there is more space between the meat and the shell, so by weight there is a lot of water in them). It takes a couple of months for the shell to harden.

Personally, I love them both ways.

Males shed twice a year, females once usually.

Does anyone eat the shell like soft-shell crabs?

it isn't that soft ;)

Interesting Thread from Chowhound..
 

What does that mean, new shelled?

Never mind - saw the chowhound link.

The frightening part is a lobster will eat it's old hard shell once it leaves it, and the calcium will help it's new soft shell harden.

The soft shell is soft enough so you don't need a nut cracker, but it's still way too thick and hard to eat, I'm betting it will destroy your gums if you tried.

Eye opening realization that lobsters have enough teeth and strength to consume their own shell..

Imagine eating a part of ourselves and having it regenerate? Like finger nails..:D

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I just or back from 10 days in Maine. There are a lot of lobsters there. Although I did my best to reduce the herd.

finally a lobster sale in the DC area. blooms has lobsters at 8.95 a lb. we will host a lobster pig out this sunday. not a very big party, as i do not have many friends that can stand me for a whole sunday afternoon.

ha !! Mrs Sweet Willie & I did our best to reduce the herd in the Nova Scotia area earlier this summer.:D

Amazing that until this century, the main use for lobsters was as fertilizer:eek:

They're hanging out on my patio, as they are still on sale in this area

http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/445/lobstern.jpg