Once the poster dish of fine dining, lobster is now cheaper than deli meat in some markets.

On Friday, oversupply pushed the price to fishermen down to $2.50 a pound in Maine and $4 in Canada.

Canadian lobster retails at Loblaws for $9.99 a pound — cheaper than veal, fresh lamb, sockeye salmon, T-bone steak and boneless grain-fed chicken breasts.

It’s cheap enough that the McLobster has become a popular menu item at McDonald’s in New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. Chilled chopped lobster and celery with salad dressing on a fresh roll sells for $6.29 in season, while supplies last.

“Most consumers would probably notice. If they’ve been watching, they see more (lobster) specials in superstores and grocery stores,” said Greg Roach, associate deputy minister in Nova Scotia’s Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture.

“Historically, they wouldn’t even consider buying lobsters.”

Last December the price dipped as low as $3.25 to fishermen in Canada, said Roach. Retail prices today reflect prices that were $5 a pound for fishermen in the spring.

The lobster catch in Canada has been going up since the 1980s and recent hauls are at historic highs.

In 1970, the catch was 17,000 tonnes for the entire country. In 2010, it was 64,000 tonnes, said Roach.

Maine is experiencing record hauls, too, jumping from 12,000 tonnes in 1990 to 42,000 in 2010.

The lobster fishery stretches from Labrador down through Atlantic Canada and south to Rhode Island. The sweet spot for lobsters is the Maritimes and Maine.

Canadian retailers say Canadian lobsters, with their thicker shells from living in colder water, have more meat in them and can be shipped more easily.

Roach believes that rigorous lobster management has brought the population of lobsters up in Canada.

Small lobsters and egg-bearing females must be returned to the ocean and the lobster fishing season is restricted. There’s also a lack of predators, including cod, which eat small lobsters as they grow at the bottom of the ocean.

“They basically have a pretty easy time of it,” said Roach.

Lobster has traditionally been a luxury item and the lobster fishery would like it to stay that way by developing luxury markets abroad. But until that grows, lobster will move into lower price markets, said Roach.

“Personally, in my house, when lobster prices are where they’ve been, I’ve eaten more lobster in the past couple of years than I ever have,” said Marc Surette, executive director of the Nova Scotia Fish Packers Association.

Geoff Irvine, executive director of the Lobster Council of Canada, says the price at retail hasn’t changed much.

While the market is a bit soft at the moment, 20-year graphs show the price to fishermen has been about $4 to $6 on average and lobster retails for $7 to $10 on average.

In the meantime, the price of other foods has risen substantially.

Irvine blames global warming and increasing water temperatures for the current oversupply.

The Maine lobsters have come to market a month early, because of the warm spring temperatures, he said.

The low prices are bad news for fishermen.

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“We’d rather have better prices and more profitability,” said Irvine.

But sustained lower prices could ultimately result in higher lobster consumption per capita.

“It’s still a delicacy. It’s still a fantastic product,” said Irvine.