Prince Edward Island

Think lobster is expensive on P.E.I.? Try buying it somewhere else

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A review of lobster prices around the world

For some, live is the only way to buy lobster. (Shutterstock)

With lobster fishermen on P.E.I. complaining about low prices at the wharf, when world market conditions seem good, CBC News took a look at just how much lobster is selling for internationally.

Last week P.E.I. lobster fishermen complained prices at the wharf are down over last year, while prices are still running at $11 a pound in Island grocery stores.

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For the most part, those prices are much higher in other parts of the world.

CBC News uncovered these prices for live North Atlantic lobster last week.

U.S.A.

JPS Seafood in Tucson, Ariz., seems to be the exception to the rule. At $11.70 a pound, the price for lobster is not much higher than it is in Charlottetown.

A little over 1,500 kilometres away, in Oklahoma City, Okla., live lobster at the Gulfport Seafood Market costs $22/lb.

China

In China they don't sell by the pound, but by individual lobster, with the price the same within different ranges of sizes.

Live lobster delivery to your door is not uncommon in China. (GFresh.cn)

A review of home delivery services shows a small lobster is considered to be a little over a pound, and you can get one for about $26.

Germany

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Live lobster is getting harder to find in Germany, with animal rights activists concerned about people dropping them into boiling water to cook them.

But a national supermarket chain will still sell them live for $21/lb. The price in Germany can vary, with one market in Hamburg selling them for $30/lb.

France

Of the four countries we looked at, France had the most expensive lobster.

Prices are lower in Paris, where there is more competition. At the grocery chain Rungis a 600-gram lobster is selling for $51, about $38/lb. In Normandy it's a few dollars more at $41/lb.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Kevin Yarr Kevin Yarr is the early morning web journalist at CBC P.E.I. You can reach him at kevin.yarr@cbc.ca.

With files from Tony Catterall, Falice Chin and Julien Lecacheur