Wow! What's going on? $34 for a lobster roll? And you're still buying them?

Yes, you are.

Mainers and flatlanders alike are not only amazed with $3.25 per gallon gas prices but also with the price of lobster lately. The latest prices that we could dig up are $13.99 a lb. for hard shell at Hannaford, $49.99 for freshly picked, and $34 for a lobster roll at Red's Eats in Wiscasset, which seems to be the lobster roll place that all other lobster roll places are measured by.

So what's going on, anyway?

Well to begin with, lobsters are few and far between at the moment and the daily catch #s are way down. But, as any lobster fishermen will tell you, that can change quickly.  Lobsters are currently far off shore where not many are fishing, but they'll be shedding their shells and becoming more active, moving closer to land soon and the daily haul will increase.

We hope. Well, it normally does.

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There is also a high demand nowadays for seafood in general which is up 19% in price from last year. Folks became more educated and aware of the varieties of it during the nasty COVID-19 pandemic, when everyone was cooking at home. Apparently the high demand for seafood took dealers, packagers, and food suppliers by surprise, and they didn't have the inventory to keep up with it.

Anyway, we hear that recently the price of lobster has come down quite a bit over the past few days or so, with one person on Facebook saying that they picked up the tasty crustacean for $7.75 a lb. right off the boat.  And, if you read throughout Facebook what folks are paying for lobster rolls, the prices vary significantly across the state.

But most lovers of lobster will tell you that no matter what the price, they'll be buying a lobster roll soon, because it's totally worth it.

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