Wholesale Maine Lobsters Best Wholesale Lobster Prices Sold By The Pound
Maine Lobster Seasonal Quality and Supply
Maine Lobster Seasonal Quality and Pricing
Maine Lobster quality and pricing varies through out the year. Since Maine lobsters react to the changes of water temperature and the temperature of the ocean can vary considerably from year to year, the Maine lobster seasons can shift by a month or more. Let's start at the beginning of Spring just as the ocean waters begin to warm a little. Around the Cape Cod our waters would freeze solid in December all the way out to Nantucket (about 24 miles). Lately that has not occurred. At this time of the year Nova Scotian lobster men are fishing in fact they fish all year long. Canada uses a very complicated 41 lobster fishing zones that they open and close through out the year. In the US, the lobster men fish when they can if the fishing is good. January to March is tough on the Maine lobster men but it soon gets better as they say when the crop comes in shore. So to sum up lobster becomes in short supply starting in December and runs until the water warms up. By April the Canadian inventory starts to increase and the prices start to drop and the quality is the best. Prices continue to drop until 4th of July when demand sky rockets in both countries. It's summer and it's time to eat lobster. Prices continue to rise for hard shell lobster as summer progresses depending on how the catch in Maine is going. If it is good, the prices for summer medium shell lobster drop. lobster is then plentiful but it's the summer grade lobster. September to early November prices usually are stable but shedders are in great supply. So soft shells are still a problem for those looking for hard shell. I have sold many an order of hard shell lobsters to customers and chefs who have never received hard shell lobsters before. One chef called me and said he had a problem with his lobsters; they had the kitchen help scared to death. They were afraid to touch them because of how strong the lobsters were kicking (I sent him 300 three pound lobsters). He said, "he had never seen such quality". Over the next twenty years, I sold him over a quarter million lobsters without a complaint. If you ever flew first class leaving the country; you've eaten one of our lobsters as a cold appetizer. When the smaller Maine lobsters start to molt, throwing off their old shell and growing a new one. the summer Maine lobsters are softer with less meat and command a lower price because their quality compared to hard shelled lobsters that have not molted. There are a great many Maine lobsters landed during the summer and the market reacts by splitting the prices and quality into several grades. CONTINUED
