August 1, 2008 - There's good news for lobster lovers this summer. Prices for the tasty crustaceans have dropped by up to $1 a pound due to declining demand blamed on the tough economy. Wholesalers and retailers say more consumers are sticking to cheaper backyard barbecue options during a time of year when lobster sales usually are robust.

"This is a high-priced commodity that we sell here," said Alan Leck, sales manager at Boston's P.J. Lobster Co. "Any time you have a recession going on, then typically those are the items that are first to come off the menu."

Yankee Lobster Fish Market and Restaurant in the Seaport District is selling soft-shell lobsters for $6.99 a pound and hard-shell lobsters for $9.99, $1 a pound cheaper for both than last year, according to president Joe Zanti.

"Wholesale prices are equally down," he said. "It's good considering the inflation that's going on with everything else."

Boston boat prices for lobsters--what the lobstermen are paid for their catch--are running about $4.50 a pound, compared to $5 to $5.25 last year, said Bill Adler, executive director of the Massachusetts Lobstermen's Association in Scituate.

It's not a case, though, where the bottom is falling out of the market, said Eddie Hook, of Boston's James Hook & Co. But, he added, "In our industry, (even) a 50-cents-a-pound difference is a big difference over an extended period of time."

"Usually, summertime demand is pretty good seven days a week, but it seems like it's been cut down to Friday, Saturday and Sunday as far as our retail business, where most of our demand comes from," Hook said.

But not all businesses are seeing a decrease in demand for the delicacy. Lobsters have been selling very briskly - at a higher pace than last year - at Yankee Lobsters, which caters to a city clientele.

"It's quite surprising," Zanti said. "It appears that people aren't going away as much, and they're staying home and buying lobsters for barbecues and cookouts."

Lobster sales at the Union Oyster House also have yet to be affected by economic uncertainty, owner Joe Milano said. The historic restaurant caters to vacationing out-of-towners and international visitors taking advantage of the weak U.S. dollar. And they're not shying away from throwing on the lobster bibs.

But Leck, of P.J. Lobster, said a decline in sales has forced his company to work twice as hard. "The lobsters don't sell themselves as they have in the past because of the economy, so you work closer with your margins and therefore you have to sell a lot more."

Originally published by Donna Goodison