Going out for a shrimp or oyster dinner is getting pricier in the Triad.
How much more expensive depends not only on the laws of supply and demand, but also on the level of price increases that suppliers and restaurants are willing to absorb to keep customers coming back.
Local distributors say that the cost of oysters and popcorn shrimp has risen between 40 percent and 50 percent since the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico began putting a squeeze on frozen and fresh supplies in late April. Prices for scallops have increased as well, though not as sharply.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said that most of the oysters that Americans eat are harvested along U.S. coasts, with 67 percent coming from the Gulf region.
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