Southern Rock Lobster price drop for second Christmas running — local fishers still doing it tough

Christmas lobster prices may have seafood lovers salivating but South East fishers are feeling the pinch they attempt to plug the gap left by China’s lockout.

Seafood lovers may be celebrating rock bottom lobster prices but crayfishers are struggling to stay afloat amid rising operational costs and reduced beach prices for their haul.

Cheap Southern Rock Lobsters will hit supermarket shelves for the second festive season in a row to help make up the loss industry continues to face with China’s ongoing trade war.

Current estimates will see the crustaceans cost around $75 per kilo, down from previous highs of $140 per kilo.

She’s Apples Mount Gambier managing director Phil Telfer said the business had already taken quite a few orders for local Southern Rock Lobster.

“(People) are looking for fresh crays … they’ll come back and pick them up next week,” he said.

“We’re running around the 800 gram to 1.1 kilos, and that’s going at $75 — and we’ve had a lot of customer reaction to that.”

Last year many including Mr Telfer added cray to the table to help support the industry after it was blindsided by China’s trade war and the difficulties posed by Covid-19.

Managing director of She's Apples Mount Gambier Phil Telfer is excited for this years Christmas Crays. Picture Arj Ganesan

A recent diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics by Australia was the latest domino to fall in the deteriorating relationship between the two powers.

“We all know how tough it is for cray fishermen at the moment,” Mr Telfer said.

“It’s really an opportunity to help out the local producers and they’ve had a kick in the guts so we will do whatever we can do to help those guys out.”

Local fishers have been among the hardest hit in the industry — fighting both increased operational costs and a sudden drop off in exports.

Robe fisherman Paul Regnier has just under four decades of experience under his belt and said after factoring in fuel, bait and his licence its difficult to turn a profit.

Robe crayfisher Paul Regnier. Picture Supplied

“All our costs have gone up, and with our price being down nearly 50 per cent to what we’re normally getting three or four years ago, it’s been very difficult,” Mr Regnier said.

The annual license fee for a fisher can run between $20,000 to $30,000 a year and represents “a massive cost is right upfront”.

The current beach price, the price fishers get for their haul, is currently sitting at around $45 a kilo, meaning they must catch around 80-100 kilos each day to avoid a loss.

“I mean you can catch less and make money but there’s not a lot left in it,” Mr Regnier said.

Prior to the ban Southern Rock Lobster were sitting at highs of $140 per kilo with the beach price at around $100 per kilo.