It is now, but lobster used to be considered trash food only worth feeding to prisoners. When they die, all the stuff in their digestive tract almost immediatel

It is now, but lobster used to be considered trash food only worth feeding to prisoners. When they die, all the stuff in their digestive tract almost immediately starts spoiling the meat so it wasn’t until canning in the mid 19th century did it become more common, as they could be cooked and canned right as they were caught. Eventually there was enough demand to support specialized boats that could keep them alive long enough to deliver to a supermarket or restaurant lobster tank and that’s when it became a delicacy. They’re expensive largely because of the infrastructure required to keep them from going bad.