That quintessential New England summer indulgence, of course, is lobster ”“ and more than ever it”™s not just an indulgence for those keeping the closest eye on the election tax debate.
Heading into August, some local markets listed lobster at $3.99 a pound, even as reports theorized of a die-off in Long Island Sound as the catch here slows to a crawl.
In Maine, however, the industry theorizes that lower cod stocks decimated by overfishing eliminated the crustacean”™s major ocean predator, leaving that many more for its land-based predator ”“ yours truly. And rising temperatures in the Gulf of Maine may be playing a factor as well.
Don”™t expect it to last. Word on the wharf in Maine is that lobstermen are already resorting to the Down East version of a strike ”“ leaving the boats tied up at the docks to drive wholesale prices up from the current $2 a pound, which is not enough to pay for the gas and other expenses needed to keep their businesses afloat.
If you”™re dining table does not quite conjure up the setting of Abbott”™s Lobster in the Rough in Noank or other seafood shacks heading up the New England coast, you”™ll never get a better deal on a “staycation-style” lobster roll.
