HIGH MAINTENANCE

LYNNE MILLER

Like an endangered species, live lobsters are vanishing from supermarket seafood departments.

Retailers are getting out of the lobster business for different reasons. Earlier this year, officials at Whole Foods announced they would no longer sell live lobsters and soft-shelled crabs from in-store holding tanks, citing concerns for the welfare of the crustaceans. The news attracted a great deal of attention, and some observers suspected the retailer's decision had more to do with business than compassion for lobsters. Also this year, Safeway said it was discontinuing live lobsters due to lackluster sales.

For seafood departments, there are plenty of good reasons to ditch lobsters. A premium product, they represent a tiny piece of the business. Their tanks are expensive to maintain, and loss of product adds up.

“You're making a commitment when you have live lobsters,” said Robert C. Bayer, executive director of the Lobster Institute, a nonprofit research and education group based at the University of Maine. “They're expensive. There's a certain amount of loss involved. You've got to keep your water quality good and you've got to watch to make sure everything stays alive.”

Though they're not cute and cuddly, lobsters do have advocates that are bothered by the sight of crustaceans in captivity. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and other animal rights groups have campaigned against holding tanks in supermarkets.

A meat and seafood official at one well-regarded mid-Atlantic chain told SN there were discussions taking place within the company to eliminate the tanks offered in some of the retailer's stores.

“It's a subject I'm not comfortable discussing,” the official said.

Lobsters seemed like more trouble than they were worth to officials at Yoke's Foods, who had considered buying tanks and selling live product a few years ago. The Spokane, Wash.-based retailer ultimately decided not to offer them. The stores do offer frozen lobster tails.

“We didn't want to go there,” said Ken Chapin, director of meat and seafood at Yoke's, noting the sales potential didn't seem worth the expense of maintenance. Officials also were leery of backlash from animal rights groups, he said.

Live lobsters have never been part of the seafood assortment at natural food retailer Wild Oats Markets, Boulder, Colo. “We did not feel it was a humane way to treat the lobsters,” said Sonja Tuitele, spokeswoman for the chain of 114 stores. “Nothing has changed with us because we don't plan to bring them into our stores.”

The meat and seafood director at Dorothy Lane Market acknowledged the tanks are high maintenance and generate little business, other than during certain key holidays, such as Valentine's Day and New Year's, and the “Lobster Mania” promotion, an annual springtime event at DLM. The Dayton, Ohio-based chain has tanks in two of its three stores.

“Is the pain worth the gain? I don't know,” said Jack Gridley, DLM's meat and seafood director, with a laugh.

If the company were to open a new store, a tank probably wouldn't be part of the seafood department, he said.

In spite of their cost and maintenance, the tanks do make a statement and can enhance the image of a retailer's seafood department. That seems to be why many supermarkets continue to offer them.

“It's nice to have a tank, that you can offer lobsters and have them on hand,” Gridley said. “They're letting people know you carry them.”

The tanks most often are found in service-oriented stores. Pittsburgh-based Giant Eagle offers live lobsters in the majority of its stores. The retailer recently upgraded its training on maintaining the tanks for associates who work in the seafood departments. The company retained a consultant to work with seafood department associates, and create a DVD that covers service and maintenance issues, said spokesman Dan Donovan.

“With our seafood departments, it's almost an added value,” he said. “Until our customers tell us otherwise, we'll continue to offer them.”

In New England, fresh boiled lobster is a culinary tradition, so tanks are a common sight in supermarket seafood departments. Hannaford Bros. and Shaw's are among the chains offering live crustaceans.

“They do a real good job with lobster and fish, just the way they display them,” Bayer said. “They have nice clean tanks.”

Bayer thinks they will always have a place in New England stores, where shoppers expect to be able to buy crustaceans that are alive and kicking, and in upscale markets in other parts of the country. He thinks selling live lobsters says a lot about a retailer's commitment to seafood.

“If you want the freshest lobster, it's the thing you have to do,” he said. “Frozen lobster is not as good. Particularly in the Northeast, this is something people have grown up with. I don't see any change in New England. It's part of the culture.”

He also thinks advocates for lobsters have some impact on retailers, but not much sway over the majority of consumers.

For example, Whole Foods' announcement last summer generated a lot of buzz in the food industry. Yet the retailer's decision to dump live lobsters had little effect on lobster sales, according to reports he heard from lobster dealers, Bayer said.

“I think the average consumer is not going to be influenced by animal rights people,” he said.