Two seafood territories on different sides of the world are in for off-season lobster Easter brunches amid rising prices.
New South Wales in Australia may not see its lobster season until July, same with Louisiana in the U.S, but they are both well-supplied.
Louisiana’s Lobster Price to Rise by $1
Just a month before the lobster season ends on April 30, Louisiana’s diners may see Easter time lobster prices rise above last year’s. The average price for fresh lobster in 2023 was $17.32 a pound but then the crawfish was abundant.
This year the retail value may notch to $18.58 per pound, in itself a minimal increase given the reigning scarcity.
Joints that sell boiled, roasted or paprika-prepared lobster in the capital, New Orleans, are already handy with new holiday menus.
Crawfish aficionados say customers could soon pay $19 a pound unlike the April 2023 price of $6 a pound.
Home to a thriving $500 million crawfish business, the state’s September-April season will close on a low note. This is after 2023 catches dropped by 50% due to heatwaves that warmed lobster habitat.
NSW to serve 500 tonnes of Seafood
On the other side of the world, the New South Wales’ government in southeastern Australia is promoting local seafood this Easter.
On Good Friday which falls on March 29, the state expects 500 tonnes in seafood sales in Sydney Fish Markets.
One of the more lucrative items on the menu will be rock lobster. According to the NSW government, lobster catches injected some A$12 million ($7.82 million) to the local economy in the 2022-23 season.
The lobster season in NSW runs between July and December each year and mainly consists of eastern rock lobster species.
Other than lobster, the region is home to other holiday brunch favorites, including snapper, oyster and prawn.
Like their Louisiana equivalents, the NSW lobster habitats lost appeal though for a different reason. In 2023, fisheries authorities culled the area after white spot disease detection in the Clarence River. The most affected crustaceans were prawns, but the government says that 2024 catches pose no disease risk.
So, off-season lobster sales in Australia and Southern United States are happening with a lot of grit this holiday weekend.