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Troll your grocer's seafood aisles these days and you're likely to spot one of the few upsides to the tanking world economy: affordable lobster.

How affordable? At many Canadian seafood stores, prices have dropped at least 25 per cent since last year, while in some American supermarkets Maine lobster is going for less than ground beef or baloney.

Amid the recent economic turmoil, demand for the high-end shellfish has shrunk as quickly as a stockbroker's wallet, creating a glut in the North American market. Lobster processors trying to move excess product have slashed the amount they pay lobstermen and charge fish markets and restaurants.

That could spell a disastrous season for lobstermen, but it's delicious news for parsimonious lobster lovers.

"A number of customers are planning on lobster parties for this weekend," said Bill Cheng, owner of Bill's Lobster Fish Market in Toronto, where a sign announcing an $8.99-a-pound lobster sale went up in the window this week. "Come Thursday and Friday, I'm expecting a bit of a crowd."

And that's for premium Canadian lobster.

Grocery stores across the country are selling cheaper Maine lobster for as little as $4.99 a pound.

Even retailers across the Atlantic are in on the deal. Several British grocery stores are waging lobster price wars, with one chain, Lidl, offering pre-cooked "credit-crunch crustaceans" for £4.99 each ($10).

In Maine, some lobstermen are selling their catch for as little as $2 (U.S.) a pound, a third of what they would earn in typical years.

Lobster Gram, the largest shipper of live lobster in the U.S., has an alert on its website: "Due to the sluggish economy, the lobster market is suffering, and the lobstermen need our help!" The company is offering 50 per cent off as part of its "Bailout Blowout."

In normal years, Mr. Cheng's lobster price never falls below $12 a pound. This year, the economic turbulence jarring Wall Street is also roiling Atlantic fishing communities. Not only is demand for posh nosh dropping, but Canadian fish processors, which generally buy up a large portion of the total Atlantic lobster catch, are having difficulty obtaining credit.

"We are facing a huge challenge," said Stewart Lamont, managing director of Ferguson's Lobster, a live-lobster exporter out of Tangier, N.S. "We all have to buy milk and bread and other necessities, but nobody needs to buy lobster."

Still, notes Mr. Ferguson, Canadian lobstermen are in a much stronger position than their U.S. counterparts.

"We're selling for about a dollar less than last year," he said. "But theirs is going for $3.99 on grocery store shelves. That may get them out of the glut, but it's a loss leader."

Even so, Mr. Ferguson sees a silver lining to the struggling U.S. fishery. "If we have a situation where lobster is less costly, it makes it accessible to a wider population," he said. "And something I've learned about lobster; if people have just a taste, they're hooked."

Other high-end food items may join lobster in the bargain aisle. "I could see it happening to things like caviar and maybe really extraordinarily priced Wagu or Kobe beef," said Sue Bowman, chief operating officer of All The Best Fine Foods in Toronto. "I could see them becoming less in demand."

But until those deals start showing up on grocers' shelves, Mr. Cheng expects a run on his Canadian crustaceans. "Europe and Asia can't afford our fish right now, that's fine. We finally get to eat our good Canadian lobster for a low price."