Professional lobster fishers along the South East coast are currently receiving a beach (wholesale) price as low as $33 per kilogram.
There are various grades of lobsters with the maximum price since the season opened on September 1 being $75.
The price fluctuations have been reflected in the retail sector with one Adelaide fish outlet dropping its price by $20 to the current rate of $70 per kilogram for freshly cooked lobsters.
As the Southern Zone fishery has been managed by individual quotas for the past 25 years, some fishers have opted to pull their pots out of the water, stay in port and wait for better prices.
Another complication has been poor weather with a large swell keeping all 18 Beachport-based boats in harbour on Monday as well as the 35 vessels at Port MacDonnell.
Industry insiders have told The SE Voice that significant rises in the cost of bait and fuel in recent months have pushed the break-even point well past the $50 per kilogram mark.
The market nowadays wants larger lobsters and several Port MacDonnell licence holders have chosen to temporarily base themselves at Robe where these are more plentiful.
The prices have dropped sharply in recent years as exports to mainland China were suddenly stopped.
However, New Zealand has maintained its trade links with China in recent years and its fishers are currently receiving around $A150 per kilogram for their catches.
The situation has dismayed Gordon Lewis who has fished out of Port MacDonnell for over 40 years.
His boat has only fished on two days this season and was one of the 15 vessels which stayed in the harbour on Tuesday.
“There is no money to be made at those prices,” Mr Lewis said.
“Good catches have been coming in but there is no point in going out to fish just to break even.
“We need to be back through the front door of China.”
Mr Lewis said there was no need by the State Government to increase the quota rollover arrangement which currently stands at 10%.
Successive State Governments have allowed fishers to carry over a portion of their quota to the following season in response to the loss of the Chinese export market.
