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Lobster Harvest Rises as Value Falls

April 22, 2009 - PORTLAND -- The value of Maine's lobster catch plunged in 2008 along with the global economy.

Maine lobstermen last year caught 67.4 million pounds valued at $235.6 million, the Department of Marine Resources reported Wednesday. While the harvest was up by about 3 million pounds from 2007, the value of the catch fell $49.7 million.

The numbers are no surprise after demand and prices for Maine's signature seafood tanked last fall, said Commissioner George Lapointe.

"The resource is still healthy. But economically the industry is in distress," Lapointe said.

Maine, which has nearly 6,000 licensed lobstermen and an estimated 3 million traps, accounts for about 80 percent of the nation's lobster catch. Lobster by far is Maine's No. 1 seafood.

The lobster harvest has risen sharply over the past two decades. Twenty years ago, the state's annual harvest was under 30 million pounds. In the past 10 years, the catch has ranged from 53 million to 75 million pounds.

Lobstermen took a huge hit when the economy melted down last fall, sending lobster prices to levels not seen in decades.

David Cousens, a longtime lobsterman from South Thomaston, said fishermen are "broke and scared."

The price lobstermen are getting for their catch is lower now than it typically is this time of year, he said. Nobody's guessing what might happen when the catch picks up in the heart of the season in the summer and fall.

"It's not going to be good, I don't think, until the economy turns around," said Cousens, who is president of the Maine Lobstermen's Association.

The average price for the lobster catch last year fell to about $3.50 a pound, a 21 percent decline from 2007, when the catch came in at $4.44 a pound. The 2008 price was the lowest since 2002.

When the lobster market went into turmoil last fall, Gov. John Baldacci signed an executive order establishing a task force to examine Maine's lobster industry and make recommendations on how to maintain its long-term viability.

The task force's goals include expanding and diversifying markets for live and processed lobster, increasing product quality and promoting the Maine lobster brand. The panel is expected to issue its report in the next couple of weeks.

Elsewhere in New England, Connecticut officials this week reported that lobstermen there caught 387,306 pounds last year, a 31 percent drop from 2007. The catch was barely one-tenth the harvest from a decade ago.

By CLARKE CANFIELD, The Associated Press April 16, 2009


Lakes:
Regions: Sebago, Sanford, Mid Coast, Downeast


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