Earlier this week we told you how lobster fishermen are hurting. That's
because the season opened on Monday - but the Co-op is only paying $15
dollars or less per pound for the prized shellfish. That's less than
half of the $30+ dollars that they got last year.
And what accounts for the vast difference? Well, you don't need to
look any further than COVID-19. The global pandemic has caused the
global price for this luxury food to take a nosedive. Basically,
there's low demand for lobster in New York, and that's hurting
suppliers from Caye Caulker to Glover's Reef.
Today the Director of Fisheries told KRM TV News that the terrible
local price is a true and accurate reflection of the depressed world
market:
Beverly Wade - Director of Fisheries
"Globally, there is an economic recession that is happening and what that
has done is that, it has depressed the traditional market we have tapped
into over the years and so on a whole, not only because of the slow of
economic activities in our foreign market and in some cases some have come
to an almost stand still but also because of the fact too that lobster is
also viewed as a luxury commodity and so, a lot of the purchasing, how
simply people are not going out and consuming lobster the way that they
would have under normal times and so the price that is now being offered to
the local fishers, is truly a reflection of the global market prices that
currently exists."
The Lobster fishermen say that at $15 dollars per pound or less, it
will hardly be worth their while to continue fishing after the first
two weeks of the season when the early season abundance is already
caught.
They note also that they cannot sell to local restaurants and resorts,
since the few that are open, have lonely local traffic.
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