Tag Archives: Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative
Maine State Chamber of Commerce puts spotlight on lobster
Maine lobster contributes $1.4 billion to the state economy and 4,000 jobs on the shore, from live lobster dealers to processors to workers on the piers. And those numbers don’t include lobster-based tourism, Linda Caprara, interim CEO of the Maine State Chamber of Commerce, noted Sept. 28 in an online panel discussion in honor of Maine Lobster Week. Then, there are the 5,000 licensed lobstermen and their crew who all earn their livelihood on the water. Last year, just below 100 million pounds of lobster landed on docks from Portland to Lubec with a value of about $390 million. “We’re catching a lot of lobster,” said Marianne LaCroix, executive director of the Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative. >>click to read<< 08:51
The Maine Lobster Industry Debuts First-Ever “Celebrate the Maine Lobster Roll,” an Impactful Twist on This Iconic Summer Dish
Lobster lovers, listen up. This summer, the Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative (MLMC) is partnering with local restaurants and nationwide distributors to debut a new special: the “Celebrate the Maine Lobster Roll.” The “Maine Characters” campaign will spotlight the broad impact the fishery has on the state of Maine and will feature the stories of the individuals behind the industry – from the fishermen to the processors, dealers, trap builders, restaurants owners and more. The “Celebrate the Maine Lobster Roll” will give diners a taste of the impact with custom materials including toothpicks, placemats, sandwich paper and postcards that feature these individuals, along with a QR code to the “Maine Characters” digital hub to learn more. The best part? Every roll sold will help support the fishery. >click to read< 08:29
Ongoing Legal Battles Put Maine Lobster Fishery in Crosshairs, Results in Suspension of Marine Stewardship Council Certification
An ongoing legal dispute between environmental activists and the federal government has led Maine Lobster’s Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) fishing certification to be suspended. An independent auditor conducted a comprehensive evaluation of the fishery earlier this year and determined that Maine Lobster is a well-managed and sustainable fishery according to MSC fisheries standards. Shortly after this assessment, a court ruled that regulations issued by the National Marine Fisheries Service to govern the management of North American right whales (NARW) do not meet the requirements of federal laws to protect endangered species. As a result of this court ruling, while the industry has complied with all regulations in good faith, the independent auditor suspended the MSC certificate of the fishery. >click to read< 18:02
This National Lobster Day, Sept. 25th, Help Support the Maine Lobster Industry
The Maine Lobster fishery is one of the most sustainable fisheries in the world, thanks to the hard work by generations of lobstermen to protect both the lobster resource as well as Maine marine environment for more than 150 years. This includes decades of proactive changes to protect endangered right whales, including weakening lines, removing thousands of miles of rope from the water, and converting all ‘floating’ rope to safer ‘sinking’ rope. Yet, this month, the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program placed Maine Lobster on its “Red List” of seafoods to avoid, citing protection of right whales, ignoring decades of good faith conservation management and despite a lack of evidence of Maine Lobster fishery’s impact on the species. In fact, zero right whale deaths or serious injuries have ever been attributed to the Maine Lobster fishery. Here’s what you can do to do support the independent, hardworking fishermen of Maine: >click to read< 12:00
Maine’s lobster industry and its supporters are fighting back after Seafood Watch placed lobster on a list
Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch on Sept. 5 added the U.S. lobster fishery to a “red list” of seafood to avoid because it’s harvested in ways that are likely to harm wildlife or the environment. American lobster was included because of the risk that endangered North Atlantic right whales can become entangled in vertical lobstering lines. Fourteen types of seafood were added to the list. Members and supporters of the Maine lobster industry, which landed 108 million pounds of lobster in 2021 at a value of $735 million, immediately denounced the listing as unfair. No right whale deaths can be attributed to Maine gear, the industry backers said, and there have been no documented entanglements in Maine gear since 2004. >click to read< 19:17
Maine Lobstering: A Family Business Facing Challenges
“Today, we really face multiple challenges including competition for the bottom fishing ground with plans to erect windmill generators, to huge increases in the price of bait due to limiting the Herring catches. Just getting new buoys made is tough,” said Capt. Steve Train, a lobsterman of Long Island, Maine. “There is a year-long wait for new traps because there aren’t a lot of people building them. And there is the closing of the federal offshore fishing grounds with the implementation of new regulations as part of the 1973 Endangered Species Act. All these challenges are driving our costs up.” West Bath, Maine Capt. Peter Doran agrees the industry has always faced challenges. photos, video >click to read< 19:04
Who’s Buying Lobster?!! Maine Lobster Industry Pivots Focus
The Maine lobster industry has shifted it focus from foodservice to retail as restaurant demand has fallen amid the COVID-19 pandemic. While 70 percent of Maine lobsters are usually sold through foodservice channels, this year that figure is expected to be under pressure amid widespread restaurant closures and restrictions on dining out. “Typically we spend a lot of our marketing resources educating chefs about Maine lobster,” said Marianne LaCroix, executive director of the Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative which represents Maine lobster harvesters, dealers, and processors. “We looked at what was available to us, and saw it was going to have to be about consumers eating lobster at home this year.” >click to read< 12:13
Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative Executive Director Matt Jacobson To Step Down
Today, Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative (MLMC) Executive Director Matt Jacobson informed the organization’s board of directors that heExecutive Director Matt Jacobson effective Monday, February 25, 2019. “On behalf of the entire board, we want to thank Matt for his dedicated service in this role over the past five years,” said Frank Gotwals, MLMC board chairman and fisherman based in Stonington, ME. >click to read<19:17
Walter Kumiega reflects on eight years in the House
Deer Isle carpenter Walter Kumiega represented District 134—Deer Isle, Stonington, Isle au Haut and eight other communities—for eight years in the state legislature before becoming ineligible for re-election under state term limits for legislators.,, With commercial fishing communities “still the most important economic driver in my district,” Kumiega immediately joined the Joint Standing Committee on Marine Resources, chairing it for his final three terms. Throughout his tenure, he worked to initiate changes in lobster licensing regulations and sponsored legislation creating the Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative, funding for which was recently renewed for a second three-year span. >click to read<15:07
Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative Brings New Shell Lobster from Trap to Table in Chicago
he Maine Lobster industry is well into the 2018 peak season, when lobsters shed their shells and a brand new, softer shell emerges. The result is Maine New Shell Lobster, a sweeter, more delicate meat – known as Maine’s best kept secret. Following the industry’s first-ever live broadcast, the Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative (MLMC) brought Maine New Shell Lobster to Chicago, just ahead of the official National Lobster Day on Sept. 25. >click to read<14:59
Lawmakers give Maine lobster promoters key win
A state lobster marketing group is likely to keep touting Maine’s most beloved seafood export in the wake of a key vote from a legislative committee. The Marine Resources Committee voted in favor of renewing the Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative for three years on Wednesday. The collaborative needs the full Legislature’s approval to continue existing beyond this year. The collaborative promotes the Maine lobster brand in the media, in the restaurant business and among chefs, and it’s funded by fees paid by members of the state’s lobster industry,,, >click to read<10:13
Maine lobster council to keep funding marketing effort despite critics
Despite grumbling from lobster dealers, the state Lobster Advisory Council voted unanimously Thursday to continue funding the Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative. The collaborative is about to begin the final year of its five-year mission to promote the state’s signature product. It wants the Legislature to renew its authorization, and its $2.2 million a year budget funded by surcharges on state-issued lobster licenses. But it needs the support of the people that its work is serving – the individual lobster zone councils and the Lobster Advisory Council that oversees it all. click here to read the story 13:29
Marketing effort gets council nod
Old frustrations between lobstermen and dealers have been stirred by the debate about whether to renew a lobster marketing effort, but fishermen here decided they support continuing the marketing project. The Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative (MLMC), launched by the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) after a 2012 price crash, is set to sunset next year unless the Legislature acts to renew the program. The DMR Lobster Zone B council, meeting last week in the Mount Desert Island High School library, voted to support renewing the marketing program. click here to read the story 09:13
Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative responds to questions about its effectiveness
The Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative, which spent $6.25 million over four years to market lobsters to well-known chefs and at restaurant events nationwide, is seeking to extend its contract beyond 2018, when the current five-year marketing agreement expires. A portion of the collaborative’s budget is paid through license fees paid by lobstermen and contributions by dealers and processors. click here to read the story 10:47
Maine’s lobster marketing group is facing existential opposition from an unlikely source: the lobster industry.
With lobster prices down, both at the dock and the dealer’s office, some who make their living off the state’s signature crustacean are reluctant to approve another five years of funding to the Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative, whose $2.2 million-a-year budget is funded by lobster license surcharges. With its state funding about to expire, the collaborative is taking its case to fishermen in fire halls and ferry terminals from Kennebunk to Rockland this month, calling on powerful industry friends to lend their support and touting a new audit that gave the program stellar reviews. But it’s not an easy sell. click here to read the story 08:57
Sept. 25th – Celebrating The Iconic Maine Lobster Industry On National Lobster Day
For the third year in a row the Maine Lobster industry is gearing up to celebrate National Lobster Day on September 25th. Maine Lobster is an American icon that has been enjoyed by diners across the world for centuries.,, “Most people don’t know that the best time to enjoy a Maine Lobster is during late summer and fall, which is why we celebrate National Lobster Day on September 25th,” said Dave Cousens, Maine Lobsterman. “It’s important to us that we bring attention to our industry during the time when our catch is at its highest.” click here to read the story 14:17
The Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative – Lobster marketing campaign draws criticism, converts
The collaborative has always been a controversial topic in lobster fishing circles. Other regional foods have promotional boards with far bigger budgets – California avocado, Georgia peaches, California almonds – and some fishermen say it’s long past time that Maine got serious about promoting its signature food. Others resent paying higher fishing license fees to underwrite the collaborative’s $2.2 million budget. click here to read the story 10:35
The Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative Makes Its Mark In 2016
The Maine Lobster industry has much to celebrate after wrapping up a successful marketing campaign in 2016, which saw increased online engagement, media mentions and Maine Lobster menu mentions. Founded in 2013, with the aim to grow awareness for Maine Lobster, the Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative (MLMC) strives to bring the story of the industry to chefs, media and consumers nationwide, and it is clear that the Collaborative’s efforts have been fruitful. Read the rest here 14:51
What’s on a real roll? Demand for the Maine lobster
The demand for lobster is on a roll — often literally. And that is helping to keep the price that Maine lobstermen are getting for their catch near historic highs. The annual per-pound price first rose above $4 in 2004 and stayed there through 2007, then fell sharply during the recession. In 2015, annual price paid to Maine lobstermen reached $4.09 a pound, the first time it had topped the $4 mark since 2007. This year, dockside prices for lobster have been close to or above the $4 level throughout the summer and fall, when most lobster is caught and prices usually dip to reflect the ample supply. Isle au Haut lobsterman Payson Barter said that he has been getting prices this fall that are “about the same” as those in 2015. He sells his catch to Little Bay Lobster in Stonington for $4 to $5 per pound. He said the relatively warm water this fall has helped increase the number of lobsters close to shore but that the crustaceans are now making their seasonal migration farther out to sea. Read the rest here 09:29
Lobster price depends on whose plate
Last week the news was filled with stories about the price of Maine lobster reaching its highest point in 10 years or more. Some trade publications were talking about 1¼-pound hardshells selling for as much as $8.50 over Labor Day weekend. That may be true, but its news to most dealers and fishermen in Downeast Maine when it comes to discussing the boat price. “I’m getting $4.35 plus whatever bonus at the end of the year,” a lobsterman from Blue Hill said on Sunday. That price was for shedders — or what the industry-funded Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative prefers to call “new shell” lobsters. The fisherman hasn’t caught any hardshell lobsters all summer. Read the story here 12:06
Audio Report: Supporters Say Lobster Marketing Efforts Paying Off
The first year of Maine’s new lobster marketing effort is starting to pay off. That’s according to supporters, who believe the $1.5 million invested is boosting the profile of a premier brand. And they believe the next four years of the campaign will reap significant rewards for the industry. Given the popularity of the Maine lobster, you might think that chefs everywhere would be comfortable plating it up. But as Matt Jacobsen of the Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative told a legislative committee recently, that’s not the always the case. Audio, Read the rest here 11:13
New marketing plan targets chefs to sell lobster by promoting “new shell lobster.”
The goal of a new marketing and promotion effort is to have those tourists also eat Maine lobster in their home cities. The Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative is leading the effort and was formed by the state and the industry. It is paid for by increased license fees on fishermen and dealers.The promotional target, at least to start, is out of state restaurants. Collaborative executive director Matt Jacobson said research identified 2,200 “upscale casual restaurants” between Maine and Delaware, which are considered the focus for the marketing effort. Video, Read the rest here,14:15
Maine lobster marketers look to re-brand ‘shedders’ as treat
When Maine’s lobsters start shedding their shells, restaurant owner Steve Kingston goes to the docks with a message for lobstermen: bring ’em to me. Kingston is among a group of people in Maine’s lifeblood seafood industry trying to make the coming season the summer of shedders. The Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative, a group funded by the state’s lobster fishermen, dealers and processors, is launching a push to re-brand recently-molted lobsters as a regional treat that deserves more attention from chefs, restaurants and vacationing tourists. Read the rest here 11:49
‘Superhero’ Maine lobstermen will star in worldwide lobster marketing
In December, the Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative (MLMC) hired the global public relations firm Weber Shandwick, based in Boston, to help expand existing markets and find new ones. The company will lead public relations, advertising, social media and digital content on lobsterfrommaine.com. “We have a superhero in lobstermen, and a lot of brands don’t,” said Patty Stone, executive vice president at Weber Shandwick. “We have this halo effect from Maine. You don’t often walk into clients who have such built-in benefits.” Read the rest here 13:27
What to do with an icon: Boston PR firm hired to retool branding for Maine lobster
“We’ve got a great story to tell,” adds David Cousens, a fisherman and president of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association. “We’re poor at telling it, but we need to get better at it. We’re independent businessmen, we catch the product, we bring it in fresh. It’s a great, healthy, wild-caught product coming out of pristine water. We need to get that story out there because that story sells.” Read the rest here 20:59
Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative plan will start with upscale restaurants
Collaborative leaders and their advertising agency outlined the new marketing plan Friday at the Maine Fishermen Forum
. The plan starts by focusing on upscale restaurants in the Northeast, and working with well-known chefs to get them to use and talk about live Maine lobster. The prime marketing focus will be to increase demand and price for soft-shell – what the ad agency calls “new shell” — lobsters. Video, Read the rest here 13:33
Longtime Stonington lobsterman Frank Gotwals to chair the board of the new Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative.
As Sea Song, his 38-foot wooden boat, pulls away from Stonington Lobster Co-Op wharf, Gotwals gets into a rhythm that has become etched into his muscle memory over the past 40 years. Assisted by sternman Alyssa LaPointe, he pulls up to one of his red, white and blue buoys, and with the help of a gaff hook, brings two wire lobster traps to the side of the boat. Read the rest here 11:29
Maine Lobster Board Launches Global Initiatives
The Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative has a simple message for the world: Eat more lobster. The 11-member board formed late last year is launching its first initiatives to market the state’s most famous product to consumers, restaurants and retailers in response to record harvests that have caused falling prices. Read more here 08:45
When it comes to the lobster market, supply is the limit
Lobster will never be as ubiquitous as bacon or burgers, which is why industry officials say the tasty crustacean is expected to retain its reputation as a specialty or luxury food, even if it is starting to turn up in places that don’t have ocean views or white linen tablecloths. Read more here BDN 08:30
New lobster marketing board joins forces with Culinary Institute of America
ROCKPORT, Maine — The recently created Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative has a lot on its plate trying to make sure people have lobster on theirs. Read more here 20:18:47
