Tag Archives: Stonington Lobster Co-op
Waterfront property owners scramble to repair after damaging storms, fearing lobster fishing season at risk
According to Gov. Janet Mills, the back-to-back storms that hit the state earlier this year left behind more than $70 million in damage to Maine’s infrastructure, including the destruction of several working waterfront properties and docks, ultimately leaving the success of this year’s lobster fishing season uncertain. Last week, the Maine Legislature signed off on a $60 million supplemental budget for storm damage relief. Aldrige’s ferry dock was damaged by storms as well, but his repairs are complete. He said he’s watching lobstermen push on at their lowest. “Fishermen are carting bait from trucks down on carts to where a dock used to exist,” Video, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:28
A Maine lobster co-op looks to recover after storm ravages fishing pier
The Corea Lobster Co-op, located on the far eastern side of Hancock County in the town of Gouldsboro, had its main pier and building repeatedly lifted up and down in the waves that surged into the small harbor on Jan. 10. Like many wooden-piling piers up and down the coast, the deck was lifted off the posts underneath, while buildings on top were pounded by the surf. “That is by far the worst storm I’ve seen since I been here, about five years,” Darryl Stanley, the co-op’s manager, said Wednesday. “The hurricanes did nothing compared to that. “Chipman’s Wharf in Milbridge, Beal’s Lobster Pier in Southwest Harbor, the Stonington Lobster Co-op, Greenhead Lobster in Stonington, and the New Harbor Co-op in Bristol are among other commercial docks that serve hundreds of lobstermen from May through October and were heavily damaged in the back-to-back storms on Jan. 10 and 13. more, >>click to read<< 06:32
Huge demand pushes record lobster prices - “The price is probably the highest it’s ever been”
Local lobster retailers were selling large lobsters at $9.99 a pound during the first week of November in 2018, 2019 and 2020. This year, the price climbed to $16.99 a pound, a price point it has stayed at since July. ”I think catch price being up has helped,” said Ginny Olsen, a Stonington lobsterman and a board member with the Maine Lobstering Union. For her and other lobstermen in the region, they felt like this moment was a long time coming. “It’s about time,” said David Horner, a Southwest Harbor lobsterman. “We like to make money, too. The amount of risk and investment is enormous.” >click to read< 10:04
US-China Trade Deal: US lobster dealers anxious to resume business with China
Hugh Reynolds, a lobster dealer from Stonington, Maine, was excited to learn that the China-US phase-one economic and trade deal came into effect on Feb 14. According to the deal, China promises to purchase more agricultural products from the United States, and lobster is highlighted in the sector.,, Annie Tselikis, executive director of the Maine Lobster Dealers’ Association, said China accounted for 15 percent to 20 percent of the export value of US lobsters at the time. >click to read< 09:43
Lobster co-op, lobster town get working waterfront grants
There’s good news from Augusta for two Downeast towns. Last week, the Land for Maine’s Future Board announced funding for six projects that will help protect and sustain the state’s dwindling working waterfront resources. Two of the projects are in eastern Maine. The Stonington Lobster Co-op has received a preliminary allocation of $216,250 from the program,,, Up the road in Washington County, the town of Jonesport,,, >click to read< 08:36
Lobstermen plagued by low catch, low prices
As the shedder, or soft shell, season winds down with higher value hard shell lobsters on the horizon, local lobstermen are hoping to turn what has so far been a dismal season around. Lobsters are in hiding, or so it seems to lobstermen. “I’d say we’ve caught about half the lobsters [than in recent years],” Stonington lobsterman Tony Bray said of the 2017 season. The Stonington Lobster Co-op, which buys a large proportion of the local catch, reported a 25 to 30 percent drop in volume over last year. “The lobsters are out there, so this is not likely reflective of a resource decline,” said Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries scientist Carla Guenther, who follows Department of Marine Resources data monitoring. “It may be reflective of a habitat shift as to where the lobsters are, and a behavior shift as a reaction to the colder water.” click here to read the story 15:16
