Tag Archives: Maine’s lobster fishery
The Maine lobster fishery is coming off a record year, faces challenges ahead
Maine’s lobster fishery scored a record-breaking value in 2021, with a 75% increase over 2020 and a 10% increase in landed weight. But fishermen face increasing pressures, including difficulty finding and keeping crew, rising operational costs, competition for fishing grounds from other industries, new regulations affecting fishing gear and methods and coastal development pressure that’s squeezing waterfront access and opportunities to live they work. >click to read< 09:25
Maine: 2021 Lobster Harvest the Most Valuable in the History of the Fishery
According to recently updated data from the Maine Department of Marine Resources, 2021 was the most valuable year in the history of Maine’s lobster fishery. At $724,949,426, the landed value for the iconic fishery jumped by 75 percent over 2020, by far the single largest increase in value, year over year. Of note, the increase in value from 2020 to 2021, $312,464,172, was more than the total landed value in 2009. “The Maine lobster industry remains a cornerstone of our states coastal economy and identity because of the uncompromising commitment to quality that follows every lobster, from trap to table,” said Governor Janet Mills. “I will continue to work tirelessly to support this vital Maine heritage industry.” >click to read< 17:09
Video: Road to Disaster – Voices of Maine Lobstermen
In the first installment of this series, we get a bird’s-eye view of the current status of Maine’s lobster fishery, which is under assault on two fronts. In this episode, we only hear from lobstermen and their advocates. (If you want to hear more of the opposing views of wind lobbyists, just read any given corporate media outlet’s coverage of this subject.) Upcoming episodes will bring in additional perspectives…there are a total of 20 different interviews that I conducted in 2021, so you will not want to miss these. Video by Jason Joyce >click to watch< 17:07
Held Hostage For Ropeless? Reject the Pew Petition for 3 lobster area closures that protect no Right Whale!
Maine Delegation Calls on Commerce Secretary to Reject Petition for Seasonal and Dynamic Closures in Parts of Maine’s Lobster Fishery – Maine’s congressional delegation today pressed Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to reject a petition by the Pew Charitable Trusts to impose seasonal and dynamic closures on parts of Maine’s lobster fishery. The lawmakers’ objections centered on the limited effects the closures would have on protecting right whales at significant economic cost on lobstering communities up and down the state’s coast. The rulemaking proposed in the petition would close three different areas of Lobster Management Area 1 to vertical line trap fishing. Pew proposed opening those areas to ropeless fishing, ignoring the reality that ropeless technology is not commercially available, financially viable for lobstermen, or proven safe and effective. >click to read<. Read a copy of the letter here.
Governor Mills Urges Commerce Secretary Ross to Reject Pew Charitable Trusts prohibition petition
Standing up for Maine’s vital lobster industry and its hardworking men and women, Governor Janet Mills today urged U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross to deny a petition by Pew Charitable Trusts that would prohibit the use of vertical lines in the American lobster and Jonah crab fisheries in four areas of the New England coast. In a letter sent to the Commerce Secretary yesterday, Governor Mills explained that the petition, which asks for immediate year-round closures south of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket and three seasonal offshore closures in the Gulf of Maine to protect North Atlantic right whales, “not only fails to provide additional protections for right whales, but contrary to Pew’s assertions, it will also cause significant economic impact to Maine’s iconic lobster fishery.” >click to read< 17:03
Maine congressional delegation wants more info before whale rules released
The four members of Maine’s delegation said Wednesday they want information from NOAA about how new findings will be incorporated into the draft rules. NOAA completed a peer review process of the data tool it’s using to create the regulations, and the delegation wants to know what impact that will have on the rules, the members said. >click to read< 14:03
Lobster landings post turnaround, Maine’s fisheries’ overall value second highest on record
Maine’s lobster harvesters had a strong year in 2018, landing 119.64 million pounds. That was an increase of nearly 8 million pounds over 2017’s figure of 111.9 million pounds, according to a Department of Marine Resources news release. The landings peak was in 2016, when 132.6 million pounds were harvested, after four years in the range of 122 million to 127 million pounds, according to the agency’s data. Last year was the seventh time in history that landings exceeding 110 million pounds. At $484.544 million, the value of Maine’s lobster fishery climbed by more than $46 million over 2017 on the strength of a boat price that increased from $3.92 per-pound in 2017 to $4.05 in 2018. >click to read<14:34
Maine officials consider seasonal adjustments to minimum lobster size, tiered licenses
About 50 people, most of them fishermen, met at the Alamo theater with Maine Department of Marine Resources officials on Wednesday. The meeting was one of more than a dozen scheduled along the coast this month to try to develop a longer-term management strategy for Maine’s lobster fishery, which caught a record volume of 123 million pounds of lobster in 2012. Read more
