The lobster was previously viewed as what some cultures still call it: "the cockroach of the sea."

But all it took was a bit of marketing to turn an otherwise lowly sea bug into the delicacy we rarely eat today.

The regions where the lobster are most common are areas of extreme Northern America and Canada, with some tropical species being found in the Gulf and the Caribbean.

Of course species of lobster exist all around the world, but it was in the North American market where the revival of the lobster took place.

The old saying of one man's junk is another man's treasure is indeed applicable here where these depressed economies decided they should ship their lobsters to areas that do not have them. Even today, you can still mail order lobsters from Maine and have them over-nighted to your door, still kicking in their Styrofoam box. So a need was created where there previously wasn't one. In fact it is still Maine's chief export today! And the inferior lobster of the warmer waters that were once ignored are now farmed simply to stock the restaurants of the resorts for the traveler's insatiable demand of the crustacean.

So once a few restaurants and buyers got the word out, the rest as they say, is history, and the demand skyrocketed to the point of imposing limits and seasons on the once reviled creature.

Today the lobster is synonymous with the champagne and caviar lifestyle so many people try to attain. Even at a seafood market, you can expect to pay at least $20US per pound, and that is the live animal, of which a lot of what you are paying for is shell!

So just remember the next time you pony up for a lobster at a restaurant or order that box Maines, just remember that not too long ago, your delicacy was fed to slaves and used as fertilizer, if it wasn't thrown back into the sea in the first place!

Learn more about this author, M.L. Brooke.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

---

Add your voice

Know something about How the lobster went from poor man's food to rich man's delicacy?
We want to hear your view. Write now!