Spiny lobster comes back to San Diego | San Diego Reader
Coveted for its resemblance to a dragon, California spiny lobster is a lucky dish for Lunar New Year and is served at weddings and large get-togethers. Covid-19 crashed those parties in late 2019 and throughout 2020. Spiny lobster prices crashed too. President Trump s trade war with China and the retaliatory tariffs didn t help. The rumored price prior to the season opening was $8 per pound, down from the 2019 average of about $20 and 2015 s high near $30. California Department of Fish and Wildlife data showed that spiny lobster was the most profitable local catch at $3.8 million in 2017. In 2018, it brought in $3 million, beating out bigeye tuna. When the pandemic started in China in late 2019, it coincided with the height of legal spiny lobster season in California. Sales in 2019 dropped to $1.8 million. Among San Diego s top-grossing seafoods, spiny lobster saw the biggest decline. Said Halmay, They [local fishermen] got together and decided, We can t make a living off that. Let s do something about it.
I didn’t know this but now I do. I seek the spiny lobster, recently dead or alive!