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Report: 'Vast rivalry' Threatens Maine's Lobster Industry

June 24, 2009 - AUGUSTA -- Experts say Maine's lobster industry needs two key things right now, and both are in short supply: teamwork and money.

A task force created last fall by Gov. John Baldacci is about to finalize recommendations for how to shore up sagging lobster prices. Its report, now due in early July, will be based largely on a consultant's findings that the industry is suffering from a lack of money for marketing and a "vast rivalry" among lobstermen, dealers and processors.

The consultant, The Moseley Group, said the industry must work together if it hopes to expand and serve its markets. It also recommended a new marketing push, starting with a $2 million campaign to help stabilize prices this summer and fall.

"We feel the key to success of the industry is communication," said Patrice McCarron, executive director of the Maine Lobstermen's Association and a member of the Task Force on the Economic Sustainability of Maine's Lobster Industry. "That would lead to more transparency, because the sectors would be working together toward the common goal of giving the market what it wants."

The industry also clearly needs to invest more in marketing, according to task force members. It now provides about $400,000 a year to the Maine Lobster Promotion Council.

Moseley recommended a $2 million investment this year, and at least $7 million a year in future years. The money should come from a combination of industry fees and federal grants, and it should be spent on marketing and research to promote the industry, according to Moseley.

Such an infusion of money into marketing efforts would generate higher prices and $15 million to $20 million in additional revenue for the state's lobstermen, the consultant said.

Raising money from the lobster industry is sure to be a challenge, especially in the current market. It's unclear how much of an investment the task force will recommend in its report next month.

Ending the vast historic rivalry also will be especially difficult this year. Even now, lobstermen frustrated with wholesale prices are selling their own catches out of pickup trucks, a practice dealers claim is unfair and destructive to the industry.

"It's going to be a tough season," McCarron said. "Tensions will be high. It's people's very livelihoods on the line right now."

Task force members say they hope industry members can also focus on the long term.

"If the industry as a whole doesn't buy in, we're not going to be successful," McCarron said. "Ultimately, we all need one another."

By JOHN RICHARDSON, Staff Writer, Portland Press Herald, June 21, 2009


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


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