Virus Makes Luxe Lobsters Cheaper As Sellers Face Fatal Blow (1)

The coronavirus outbreak is turning one luxury treat reserved for special occasions into a meal bargain hunters can afford.

U.S. lobster prices have plummeted to the lowest in at least four years after the spread of the virus halted charter flights to Asia at a time when sales usually boom for Chinese New Year celebrations.

The fallout has left thousands of pounds of unsold lobster flooding North American markets and squeezing U.S. businesses that were already hurting from lost sales due to China’s tariffs from its trade war with Washington.

A fisherman holds a lobster on a boat off the coast of Massachusetts in 2018.

Photographer: Adam Glanzman/Bloomberg

“This is like a fatal blow,” said Stephanie Nadeau, ...