LUBBOCK, Texas (RFD News) — Lobster prices can vary sharply through the year because quality changes with the animal’s biological cycle, creating a seasonal market that operates very differently from cattle or hog futures.
Lobsterboys co-founder Travis Madera says summer is the primary fishing season across much of the Northeast, but it also overlaps with molting, reproduction and shell development in cold-water lobster populations.
That creates a significant quality difference between hard-shell lobster and softer summer product. Madera says recently molted lobsters generally contain less meat, contributing to lower prices compared with harder-shell animals harvested outside that period.
Unlike cattle or hogs, lobster does not trade through a futures market. Prices instead respond directly to seasonal harvest conditions, quality, supply and buyer demand.
For fishermen and buyers, understanding those seasonal differences can be as important as following the overall market price.
