Lobster News

Rare lobster in Brideport seafood market

Posted Fri Nov 7th, 2008

BRIDGEPORT -- Charles Viens, of Bridgeport Lobster and Shellfish on Knowlton Street, has sold millions of lobsters in his life, but there is one he will spare.

The lobster, a male that weighs about 1.5 pounds, is a rare orange lobster -- a type of genetic mutation that few seafood dealers ever see.

"I've had him for six months," Viens said Thursday at his seafood market, which is adjacent to his insulated warehouse where he keeps tens of thousands of lobsters in a giant pool for wholesale to supermarkets. He is one of the largest lobster wholesalers in Connecticut.

The lobster had come in with a shipment of many others from Nova Scotia.

He kept it, as a curiosity, rather than sell it for $4.99 like he has been selling many of the others, since lobster is at its lowest price in years.

"I'll probably donate him to the Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk," Viens said. "This one is not going to be eaten."

The rare lobster, which Viens has not given a name, would taste the same as any other lobster. A customer was eyeing him recently.

"He looks pretty good. I'd eat him," said Don Thompson, of Nevada, who was visiting his brother in the area.

His brother said he is quite fond of lobster.

"My favorite foods are lobster and prime rib," Bruce Thompson said.

Orange lobsters are not true albinos, which are white, but are a genetic mutation that also produces rare colors like blue and yellow, said Mark Dixon, a biologist

White lobsters pop up only once in several millions chances, and may have a lack of pigmentation because of dietary deficiencies. When put on a regular diet they return to normal color. True genetic albinos that remain white under any conditions are even rarer.

The color of the lobster, either from dietary

deficiency or genetic mutation, does not matter once it is boiled though.

"These lobsters all turn red when cooked," he said.

True albinos are often spared.

Viens said he has been in the lobster or near the lobster business all his life, since he was a boy growing up in Westport, Mass., and had heard of albino, blue, orange and yellow lobsters but never seen one until last year.

He has seen several come through on his shipments from Nova Scotia. He sold the first few he encountered, but feels this one is special and should be preserved.

"I guess it's just luck," Viens said. "I'll sell about 500,000 lobsters this year. When you are dealing with numbers like that, you are bound to see something rare come through."

Bargin prices about for lobster

Posted Sat Nov 1st, 2008

May sound fishy, but thanks to the economic meltdown, bottom-feeding consumers can get some bargain prices on the usually costly Maine lobster. The critters are currently fetching about the same price as bologna along the Portland, Maine, waterfront according to a recent news report, and experts are saying that at the current prices, some fishermen will leave the business for good.

"It’s not really a glut," said Robert C. Bayer, executive director of the Lobster Institute. "It’s the economy."

Fishermen in Maine are getting about $2.50 per pound, down from $4 to $5 last year for live lobsters, Bayer said. Consumers here may not see price changes at local eateries; many restaurants, including upscale spots such as III Forks in Dallas, serve frozen rock lobster tails from Australia. General manager Chris Vogeli said that’s currently fetching $5.50 per ounce at his place.

But one man, Lobster Gram owner Dan Zawaki of Chicago, is creating his own bailout package for the Maine lobster industry.

"The lobster season just started," said Zawaki, who sells live Maine lobsters via the internet for home delivery. "No one’s going to the high-end restaurants. There’s no one out there ready to buy them."

His half-price package doesn’t come with white tablecloth and candle light, but it does include next-day delivery on a pair of live one-pounders, complete with lemon, bibs and moist towelettes. Price: $33.95. And diners don’t have to spring for a new outfit to wear while they enjoy it.

He’s not the only guy who’s dropping prices. Rich Jeffers, a spokesman for Red Lobster owner Darden Restaurants, said they’re on board too. Red Lobster is the largest seafood buyer in the United States.

"We’re seeing the prices fall with the market," Jeffers said. "This means they’re about $2 less for a one and a quarter pound lobster now than they were last month."

Zawaki is so concerned that he’s donating $1 of every order to the Lobster Institute. Zawaki said that even lower fuel prices don’t make up for the lobster fishing fleet’s lost sales.

"Quite frankly, they’re having a tough time. The lobster season just started," Zawaki said. "We need them as much as they need us."

Bayer said gourmands don’t need to experience any guilt over snapping up the Maine lobster.

"This is a well-managed, sustainable fishery," Bayer said.

Bayer debunked the notion that lobster is too high in choleseterol for many diners.

"Just keep away from the butter and enjoy lobster for breakfast," he said.

Lobster Gram customer service representative Mary Wong had another recommendation.

"Never, never microwave" the critters, Wong said. "We want people to be as humane as possible. I prefer steaming."

Supermarket chain Lidl offers £4.99 lobster

Posted Tue Oct 26, 2008

The German-owned discount group said the luxury shellfish were "flying off the shelves". The company will offer for sale 350,000 whole wild Canadian lobsters caught in the North West Atlantic.

The £4.99 bill is a third of the price charged by some fishmongers and an eighth of what can be be the bill at top restaurants.

Lidl spokesman Marco Ivone said: "There is only a finite supply of these lobsters, which are the cheapest in Britain.

"As they say in the retail trade, "when it's gone, it's gone", but you can expect our rivals to wage a lobster price war with us once they realise we have caught them on the hop."

The pre-cooked, frozen product is targeted at shoppers in the run up to Christmas, a Lidl spokesman said.

Tesco now has its own promotion on frozen lobsters, priced £6.

A spokesman said: "We have promotions on a range of items, which change every week. In these difficult times we try to make our produce as affordable as possible."

Lidl's offer comes amid a trend of "credit crunch cuisine", with supermarkets enticing customers on a budget.

The Feed Your Family For a Fiver campaign by Sainsbury's has sparked huge sales boosts with each different recipe.

Not to be outdone, Tesco has also worked out a weekly planner where a family of four can be fed healthily for £5 per day.

Lobster poacher caught with 'bugs' in his pants

Posted Tue Oct 11, 2008

Over the years, poachers have done some creative things to hide illegally taken lobsters from game wardens, but one San Diego man takes the all-time Hidden Bug Award.

Binh Quang Chau, 33, of San Diego, who has been cited four times for poaching, figured out a creative way to hide his catch.

When wardens arrested Chau for the second time, they noticed “odd bulges” in Chau's pants.

Chau had wrapped six lobsters individually in newspaper and stuffed them down his drawers.

“That was kind of a different one there,” said DFG warden Daryl Simmons who had cited Chau the first time while on patrol with warden Gerald Borjeson and Nancy Foley, chief of the DFG's wardens. Simmons was in on all three of the DFG's arrests of Chau. A San Diego Police officer made a fourth arrest.

Fortunately, all six lobsters that Chau stuffed down his pants were still alive and were returned to the ocean, Simmons said.

“We try to do that with all the lobsters we confiscate,” Simmons said. “Those undersized lobsters have a chance to get bigger.”

Lobster Mania has led to Lobster Crime and Punishment.

Simmons and fellow game warden David Sickels made an incredible find on Sept. 19, eight days before the start of the current lobster season. Simmons and Sickels cited three men who were diving around the rocks of the La Jolla State Marine Conservation Area. The men, whose identities are being withheld until the case is processed, had 86 lobsters, 75 of which were undersized.

The three men face thousands of dollars in fines for possessing lobsters during a closed season, possession of overlimit of lobsters, possession of undersized lobsters and unlawful take from the reserve.

That was before the lobster season even started.

When lobster season opened on Sept. 27 at 12:01 a.m., the real antics began, and a force that numbered 22 game wardens stayed busy into the wee hours of the morning both Friday and Saturday nights.

According to the DFG's figures, game wardens made 1,049 contacts with anglers on opening weekend in San Diego County. They wrote 35 citations for 39 violations, issued 118 warnings and seized 81 lobsters, four crabs, one undersized leopard shark and one sculpin.

Warden Noel Richards coordinated the effort of the other wardens brought in to form the enforcement squad for the busy opening weekend. The wardens were from San Diego, Imperial and Riverside counties.

Considering they worked waters from the Orange County line to the Mexican border, that's really not many wardens to cover more than 70 miles of coastline, three major harbors, numerous piers, jetties and launch ramps.

This also marked the first season of the DFG's new lobster report card, required by all recreational lobster fishermen. Wardens were pleasantly surprised to find nearly 100 percent compliance by fishermen.

However, most of the 118 warnings were given to anglers who didn't complete the card correctly, according to DFG warden Patrick Foy.

While the opening weekend violations were significant, the wardens know it's just the start to a season of cat and mouse with poachers, many of whom are repeat violators.

In the case of Chau, the one who stuffed the bugs in his pants, his fourth arrest was for poaching lobsters and “other offenses.”

Warden Simmons said yesterday that Chau spent six days in jail after he was arrested a third time by him and warden Borjeson. Once again, Chau was reported to be in the La Jolla State Marine Conservation Area, this time with three undersized lobsters, Simmons said. Because he had shown chronic disregard for Fish and Game laws, Chau was booked into San Diego County Jail, where he was held for six days. Chau combined the three cases the DFG made against him and plead guilty. His plea agreement called for three years' probation, with a penalty of 90 days in jail if he violates his probation, 13 days' work service, three-year suspension of all fishing in state ocean waters out to three miles and a $500 fine.

In another case in April, warden Borjeson charged Edwin Cruz Diaz for being in possession of two live abalone (a closed fishery in Southern California), 14 lobsters (13 of which were undersized), 14 turban snails and two fish while diving in the Mission Bay Jetty. He admitted to using a trap to catch the creatures, Borjeson said.

Cruz was cited for possession of two abalone in an area closed to abalone take, taking or possessing 14 lobsters out of season, taking or possessing overlimit of lobsters and taking or possessing 13 undersized lobsters.

In addition to the above charges, Cruz faces charges for the unlawful method of taking lobster (trap), unlawful method of taking fish (trap), possession of fish taken unlawfully, unlawful method of taking invertebrates (turban snails by trap), possession of invertebrates taken unlawfully, resisting arrest and concealing evidence.

In Cruz's case, Borjeson says he hid his catch in a bag that he submerged and stashed in the rocks along the Mission Bay Jetty. No way he was putting all that stuff down his pants like Chau did with his lobsters.

Demand, prices for lobster take dive

Posted Tue Oct 10, 2008 12:15am

NEWBURYPORT — The tanking economy is having an effect on local lobster tanks.

People are staying away from what are usually among the most expensive seafoods, driving prices down.

"At this point, the price of lobster is so low and the price of fuel and bait is so high, it's up to each lobsterman to decide if it's worth it," said Bob Campbell, manager of Yankee Fisherman's Cooperative in Seabrook, which buys from 15 to 25 boats. "Everything is in such flux that everyone's waiting to see which way to go."

Campbell couldn't quote a boat price for lobster yesterday. He said he is working what he called an "open ticket."

"It means I've got figure where I can sell it and what I can get for it before I can tell them what I can pay them," he said.

"It affects the lobstermen more than anyone," said Joyce Hartigan of Plum Island, whose husband, Bob, traps lobsters for a living and owns Bob Lobster fish market and restaurant on Plum Island Turnpike. "The market is full and there's very little demand."

"Prices are down as low as they've been in several years," said Gordon Blaney, owner of David's Fish Market on Bridge Road in Salisbury, where retail lobster prices start at $4.99. "For the last few months if you've got to put gas in your car or eat lobster, which are you going to do?"

Sean Fairweather, manager of Bob Lobster, said high fuel prices and low prices are keeping boats in port because it's not worth the lobstermen's time to set out traps.

"The high price of fuel means less fishing days," he said.

Fairweather said Bob Lobster is running some specials on lobster dinners to take advantage of the low price. For example, he said, twin 1-pound lobsters are selling for $17.99, down from the usual $23.99.

In Maine, lobstermen are talking about tying up their boats, and dealers are suggesting they haul fewer traps to get prices back up.

The wholesale price of Maine lobster has plunged more than 20 percent in the past week to as little as $2.60 per pound in some harbors. Dealers say the international credit crisis has effectively shut off orders from major processors in Canada.

"This is the worst time for this to happen," said Peter McAleney, owner of New Meadows Lobster in Portland, who has been asking lobstermen to haul fewer traps to limit the glut.

Maine Marine Resources Commissioner George Lapointe said this is a time of year when lobstermen count on earning a lot of money and landing a lot of lobster, but "the price is bad and getting worse."

"The prices are, from what I can tell, the lowest they've been in almost two decades," said Lapointe. "Think about just the cost of living compared to two decades ago."

Report warns of lobster industry climate change impact

Posted Tue Oct 7, 2008 3:26pm AEDT

A CSIRO report has shown the south-east South Australian rock lobster industry could be one of the commercial fishing areas affected most by climate change in Australia.

The Federal Government's preliminary assessment of the effects of climate change on the aquaculture industry calls for the implementation of strategies to ensure the long-term survival of fisheries and aquaculture businesses.

The report shows that a large stretch of the south-east coast will feel the largest effects of rising water temperatures, acidity, salinity and sea levels.

It indicates that the numbers of ground dwelling fish stock such as crayfish will be highly affected by these factors.

The report finds the local communities that depend on this industry will also be adversely affected.