What's up with Lobster prices?

You may have been wondering what's up with lobster prices lately. Here's what's going on. There are a number of factors at play here.

 1. Local lobstering had slowed to a crawl in March and early April. A lot of local fisherman pull their traps and head south for the winter. A few weeks ago a lot of guys started setting gear out again. The catch is starting to increase.

 2. During the summer and fall, lobsters are placed into pounds and tubes to hold until the winter months when prices climb. Lobster pounds are entire bay's seperated from the ocean to keep lobsters. About a month ago, those resources had been depleted, causing there to be less product on the market - hence prices climb.
 

 3. April 20 started the opening of the Canadian lobster season. As you can see from the chart above, Newfoundland was the first to open. Other areas will continue to roll out over the next few months. This will add more product into the market and you will see lobster prices continue to fall.

4. The local catch will start to increase. Soon shedders ( soft shell lobsters ) will start being caught causing a split in price between hard shell and soft shell lobsters. This is when you will see a sharp decrease in lobster prices. Just in time for summer.

 That's it in a nut shell...

Maine Halibut Season is coming

Taylor Lobster is a direct buyer of Day Boat Halibut. With the season approaching quickly I thought I'd put out some information. out Season: Atlantic Halibut fishing in Maine's territorial waters ( out to 3 miles ) Begins at sunrise May 1, 2016 and ends at sunset June 30, 2016 Size limit: Halibut must be 41 inches from head to tail or 32 inches with head-off Possession limit: Commercial vessels may land no more than 25 halibut during the season. Tagging: Hallibut must be immediately tagged with an approved landing tag. The tag must be attached tightly around or through the tail just before the tail fin.\ Gear Type: It is only legal to fish Maine halibut with circle hooks. A max of 450 hooks per vessel.

What the %$#& ???

Have you noticed the price of haddock on the rise lately? It's not because of a mighty hurricane or and unusual amount of market pressure. It's because of a guy out of New Bedford Massachusetts. He owns one of New England's largest fishing fleets and has been fleecing America. I'll put the link at the bottom so you can read the Boston Globe story. You can't make this stuff up. Long story short- this guys was landing slow fish with strict quotas, reporting it as haddock and selling it to another guy in New York for cash. He's been making a fortune illegally...(ALLEGEDLY) It makes me wonder how many times over the years I've looked at a competitor's price on dabs or sole and wondered how it was even possible with the auction prices higher than their selling price. The writer of the Boston Globe article hits the nail on the head - the simplest explanation is usually the correct one.

Click here to see the whole story

Up in the bushes....

     Sitting at my desk this morning, a local lobsterman strolls in to pick up his check. I've been in the business twenty plus years but what I was about to hear.... I didn't even understand.

Bret: " See you got a good chaaage of haaad shells"

Lobsterman: " Yuh, picked up thirty off a pair"

Bret: " You must be fishin up in the bushes"

Lobsterman: "Yuh, that's why they call em' sucka bugs. If you blow a line on yur boat yur out 4 or 5 days though"

 I'm nodding my head along with the conversation, but I'm thinking "WTF are they talking about?" After a short conversation with Bret after the lobsterman leaves I got a translation.

Bret:" I noticed you caught a lot more hard shells then normal last week."

Lobsterman:" Yes, I even caught 30 pounds in two traps in one spot"

Bret:" You must be fishing in tight against the shore"

Lobsterman:" Yes but that's why they call them sucka bugs - the lure of a good catch draws you in close to shore , but, when you're in less than 10 feet of water you run the risk of losing gear or trashing your boat."

Got it.

Glidden Points vs. ( a newcomer looking to bring it! )

    I buy a lot of oysters from a lot of different oyster farms. Every once in a while someone wants to challenge the king ( or in this case the queen ). This morning after listening to an excited oyster farmer extol the number of reasons his or her oysters were just as good if not better than the famed Glidden Points, I decided to take a look see...

    This was a little bit like the Manny Pacquiao - Floyd Mayweather fight. It didn't last long - and the winner was clear.
   As I slurped the Glidden it reminded me of that jovial moment as a kid when your mom took you to the beach for the first time. You run down the sand, splash through the waves, and dive into the first decent wave. Coming up for air, you realize you are  frigid and you've swallowed a bit of icy ocean water. Never the less, it's  glorious and the ocean water tasted like it was heaven sent. That's what I tasted this morning. The Glidden Point transported me back to a childhood memory of awesomeness.

   The challenger oyster was indeed a very good oyster and has come a long way through the years. I could eat them every day and be a happy camper.
     I often hear Glidden's glory spoke aloud from oyster connoisseurs. As a true American, I can grow skeptical when things are put too high on a pedistal. But damn.... Gliddens are one kick ass oyster.

A Big Fatty

   Oyster season is upon us. Those months with the letter "R" somewhere in the name.  For me, I like to eat oysters year round, however there is some truth to this saying. Pictured above is a big ol' fatty Whaleback from the Damariscotta river. It's nearly twice the size as it was two months ago and the meats fill the shell. 

  In the fall , oysters start packing on fat for the long winter just like bears do. The flavor profile changes along with the seasons as well. Just like kobe beef, more fat = more flavor.

Shuckapedia