No summer fun for America's lobster fishermen

In case you haven't heard, there's something of a crisis going on in the coastal waters along America's Eastern Seaboard. No, it's not the Russian sub that spooked U.S. defense officials when it patrolled the area last month. The problem is that a big drop -- 30 percent in some cases -- in lobster prices is pushing many of the fishermen who trap the clawed crustacean toward financial ruin.

The Labor Day holiday amounts to a moment of reckoning for the trappers, as it unofficially marks the end of lobster bakes and lobster rolls, at least for a while. "In the mind of the public, the summer is over," says Bill Adler, executive director of the Massachusetts Lobstermen's Association. "The thought of eating lobster sort of dwindles for consumers."

Adler says wholesale prices for lobster in the Bay State have fallen from about $4 to $4.25 per pound last year to currently about $3 to $3.25 a pound -- a level not seen in a decade. He says $4 a pound is the break-even point for the fisherman, as they've got to pay for bait, fuel, insurance, dockage fees and other expenses. "With the price right now in the $3-per-pound range, they can't meet their bills."