Tag Archives: Chris Goodwin

The cost of herring – Fishermen feeling bait price squeeze

“We made no money this spring,” said Bass Harbor fisherman Justin Sprague. The cost of operations for lobstering continues to increase while the boat price of lobster has hardly budged. The cost of herring, the preferred bait for most Maine lobsterman, has gone up especially sharply. “We don’t have any margin at this point,” Sprague said. “It’s frustrating, to say the least.” Bruce Colbeth manages the C.H. Rich lobster wharf in Bass Harbor. “By the time these guys pay for fuel, bait and stern men, there ain’t too much left for them,” he said. “I remember six years ago you could sell (herring) bait for $26 a bushel. Now it’s doubled.” >click to read<11:41

Rachel Irene, Wild Wild West win at Bass Harbor boat races

Sun-baked racers looked as red as the cooked version of their daily catch once prizes were doled out at the 8th Annual Bass Harbor Lobster Boat Races on Sunday. Cameron Crawford’s 1,000-plus horsepower Wild Wild West was the winner in the diesel free-for-all category and the overall “Fastest Lobster Boat” competition, but didn’t set a new diesel speed record. Greg Lewis’s Rachel Irene, a Mitchell Cove 35 with a 500-horsepower Cummins under the platform, earned the title of “Bass Harbor’s Fastest Lobster Boat.” >click to read<20:16