After New York regulators cracked down on Price Chopper for selling under-sized lobsters, a wholesaler that supplies the grocery chain is taking the blame for the shrimpy crustaceans.

The Lobster Trap, out of Cape Cod, said in a statement that it inadvertently shipped lobsters to Price Chopper that would be of legal size in other states, but that fell short of requirements set by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

Those rules say lobsters that are taken, possessed, bought, sold, imported, and exported must measure between 3 and 3/8 inches and 5 and 1/4 inches from the eye socket to the end of the body shell.

“It’s entirely our fault that some of our packers mixed 3 [and] 1/4-inch lobsters earmarked for other Northeastern states with the shipment bound for Price Chopper,” said Lobster Trap co-owners Logan Clarke and Dave Madden in the statement. “We’re shipping tens of thousands of lobsters daily. It’s important for people to understand that Price Chopper didn’t knowingly accept short length lobsters from us. We delivered them in error.”

To keep the same thing from happening again, the company it will no longer house lobsters shorter than 3 and 3/8 inches at its Cape Cod facility.

However, Price Chopper won’t be using The Lobster Trap going forward, a spokeswoman told the Albany Business Review.

“The supplier violated our product specification requirement because it’s exactly what New York state law sets,” she said. “We do intend to hold them responsible for this violation.”

Price Chopper supplier in Cape Cod accepts blame for small lobsters [Albany Business Review]

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