Tag Archives: Mike Dawson

A Lobsterman Slogs On Through the Pandemic

Mike Dawson (self-employed) Location: New Harbor, Maine Employees: 1 Status: Open, essential industry.  During the summer, “catch landings are probably down. But we can gain quite a lot in October, November, and December,” says Mike Dawson, a lobsterman who fishes off the coast of Maine. “August was kind of slow. Not an overabundance of lobster.” But Dawson this year is still grappling with the tepid demand and disruption caused by the pandemic. Lobster recently fetched $3.60 a pound for soft-shell, down from $4.05 a year ago. The occasional hard-shell lobster—which is rarer to catch at this point in the growing season for lobster—got $4 a pound, down about 25 cents a pound from a year ago. >click to read< 09:41

Prime Lobster Season Is Here, but Mike Dawson Isn’t Celebrating.

Mike Dawson (self-employed) Location: New Harbor, Maine Employees: 1, Status: Open, essential industry. The lobsters have just started to “come on” for the 2020 season, which in the lexicon of a Maine lobsterman means the annual lobster migration and catch has begun for the summer. Normally,  that would signal a time for the state’s 5,000 lobster harvesters to spend all their time setting and hauling traps. Not this year. This season is marked by weak demand from restaurants across the country and seafood processors that are taking less meat during the coronavirus pandemic. International markets have slammed shut. As a result, lobster prices are weak.Some lobstermen are still sitting on the sidelines, collecting unemployment. Others, like Mike Dawson, who fishes off New Harbor, Maine, have diversified by catching pogeys, or bait fish, in addition to catching lobster. 16 photo’s, >click to read< 16:05