IT IS JUST CRAY CRAY

THIS STINKS: SEAFOOD CHRISTMAS PRICE SHOCK Yule be shucked when you shell out for lunch

A TRADITIONAL Christmas crayfish is going to set you back about $100 – with demand locally and from export markets sending prices for seafood sky-high.

You can’t find a rock lobster for under $100 a kilogram this week – with at least one retailer selling it for $125 a kilogram.

And seafood retailers expect those prices might go higher today and tomorrow.

And it’s not just crayfish, with tiger prawns up to $41 a kilo and flathead up to $49.

Shoppers will this weekend spend record amounts of money on food for their Christmas feasts.

THE demand for Christmas rock lobster is so high around Hobart that prices for the lucrative shellfish are again soaring to above $100 per kilo.

Mures is charging $125 a kilo for crayfish while The Dock at Constitution Dock is selling them for $100 a kilo.

Last year, both Mures and The Dock sold crayfish for $110 a kilo.

Mures owner Will Mure said the high crayfish prices were caused by a global demand for the high-quality Tasmanian product.

“We have to compete with the world for the rock lobster. We sell a lot overseas so to keep them here we have to pay the same as the overseas markets,” Mr Mure said.

The Dock senior staff member Isaac Laredo said the price could go higher depending on the market demand leading up to Christmas.

“It’s mainly a higher demand that means a lower amount of stock on the market, which pushes up the price,” he said.

But regardless of the price, Mr Laredo said his customer numbers were still high leading into Christmas.

“We haven’t seen a drop in demand, the price has been quite steady over the past three years,” he said.

Mr Mure added he was crossing his fingers that East Coast algal blooms and the onset of Pacific oyster mortality syndrome would not diminish crayfish and oyster stocks. The situation at present is steady.

“We have a full supply at the moment,” he said.

Despite two biotoxin zones still closed on the East Coast due to the blooms, the Tasmanian Rock Lobster Fisherman’s Association is confident crayfish can be sought from open zones and the West Coast.

Oysters Tasmania has said there are challenges for some oyster farmers facing POMS, with shortages potentially up until Easter 2019.

Frantic shoppers around the country will be gathering last-minute gifts this weekend while dropping record amounts of money on food for Christmas feasts.

Shopping bags will be overflowing with hams, turkeys, Christmas puddings and crackers as people rush to get those final items needed for the traditional festive lunch or dinner on Monday.

And supermarkets will be putting on additional staff to cope with the flood of shoppers flocking to stock up on grocery items.

New data from the Commonwealth Bank found, of their customers, the Christmas feast wins hands down as the nation’s most expensive meal of the year.

Consumers are expected to spend more than last year’s $54 million on groceries on Christmas Eve, before regrouping for New Year’s Eve shopping — which peaked at $32 million in December 2015.

The spending on Christmas Eve is almost 23 per cent higher than what Australians spend to wine and dine on other major holidays, including New Year’s Eve and Australia Day.

CBA data also revealed that in December, groceries are the second-biggest retail spend category behind gifts.

CBA’s general manager of everyday banking and payments, Michael Baumann, said on the last two days before Christmas, people would spend $100 million on groceries.

“Try not to shop in peak times between 9am and 6pm, get out of bed early and do your shopping early or after you have dinner,’’ he said.

Australian Retailers Association’s executive director, Russell Zimmerman, said that with Christmas falling on a Monday, the weekend would be a bumper two days of shopping not just for groceries but for filling Christmas stockings.

“We expect Saturday to be an exceptionally busy day.’’