Illegal Lobsters Worth $7,000 Seized from NY Price Choppers

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY — Price Chopper supermarkets could be in hot water after the state Department of Conservation confiscated more than 1,100 pounds of undersize lobsters.

The agency made the announcement Thursday saying that three different inspections over the last four months had taken place.

An investigation was begun in March with Environmental Conservation Officers in Region 7 found short lobsters at two Price Chopper stores in Binghamton.

In May, the officers executed random checks at Price Chopper stores across the state and found similar results.

The law requires lobsters taken, possessed, bought, sold, imported and exported in New York to measure between 3-3/8 inches and 5-1/4 inches from the eye socket to the end of the body shell.

Size restrictions protect the fishing stock, DEC officials said.

A routine inspection of 297 cases of lobsters at the Price Chopper Schenectady distribution center found that 820 lobsters, or about 15 percent of the inventory, were under the legal size limit.

At least 105 undersized lobsters were seized at other stores.

The total value of the seized lobsters was more than $7,000.

Price Chopper faces fines of up to $100 for every shellfish involved. The DEC said it was going to attempt to negotiate a settlement with the supermarket chain in the coming weeks.

The undersized lobsters were seized and donated to the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York in Latham Wednesday.

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