From boat sizes to waitlists, what lobster industry changes say about where fishery is headed
Wait times for a lobster fishing license, especially for those not born into a family of fishermen, used to exceed a decade in some parts of Maine, but the queues are getting shorter as fewer young people enter the fishery. Lobster boat captains often struggle to find enough sternmen to help and used lobster boats are taking longer to sell than they used to. The threat of climate change and more restrictive right whale protections, as well as several years of more modest landing totals, have some in the lobster industry second-guessing their future in the business, yielding subtle, but real, changes in the makeup of the fishery. In conversations with fishermen, a sense of uncertainty permeates. “It’s such an unstable way of life and it’s not getting any better,” said Nick Perreault, a fifth generation fisherman who captains a lobster boat out of Jonesport. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:25
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