The value of premium species of lobster sourced from Western Australia has plummeted, causing the lucrative industry to grind to a near halt.

The western rock lobster 'beach price', which is the price professional fishers receive direct from processors, has slumped to about $50 a kilogram.

Compared to six months ago, the price has shed about 30 per cent of its value.

Mark Rutter is the general manager of marketing and business development at the Geraldton Fishermen's Co-operative, which is the largest processor and exporter of rock lobsters in Australia.

"It's very hard to pinpoint exactly what's driving the prices but certainly we are experiencing very low prices ... in a recent historical sense," he said.

Almost all the western rock lobsters, caught on the continental shelf mainly from Perth to Geraldton, are exported live to China.

A seasonal drop in demand from the Chinese market, along with the strengthening of the Chinese Yuan bearing down on Australia's return in the exchange rate, are major factors behind the price fall.

Cheaper lobster from America lowering prices

The emergence of America as a key exporter of a more affordable lobster to China is also thought to be contributing to the problem.

The American lobster costs about a quarter to a third of the price of WA's western rock lobster, which is marketed to China's high-end seafood market.

Mr Rutter said there is a degree of substitution of the cheaper lobster for WA's lobster in restaurants, but said demand remains steady.

"We're certainly not at a crisis point and I don't think that we'll ever be at a crisis point from a demand point of view," he said.

"The fact is, we can't supply all of the demand from China."

"It's really at what price we can supply and be able to supply the highest price buyers."

Former president of the Geraldton Professional Fishermen's Association, Terry Mouchmore, said the soft prices would not tempt fishers to head out and pull pots.

"The whole of the Australasian industry is experiencing the same sort of levels at the moment, proportionately … the New Zealanders and our eastern state cousins are achieving slightly higher prices than what we are but proportionately they've taken a big hit to their price as well," he said.

Mr Mouchmore said it was likely the price would increase slightly before levelling out.

The Geraldton-based former fisher said there would be readjustment within the industry, which had experienced steadily strengthening prices in recent years.

"I think that the continued growth that we have seen over the last few years is probably over," he said.

Mr Rutter remained optimistic about the season.

"We're hopeful that this will be just be more of a plateau," he said.