After a week in Maine,  the kids opted to go home. Their need for a connection to the Internet greatly outweighed there need for a connection to Nature or their parents, and we were then able to enjoy some adult entertainment. So we went to a panel discussion entitled Trends in The Lobster Fishery, held at the old Strand Theater on Main Street in Rockland. Yes, just like in Moby Dick, they call it fishing. The three lobsterman on the panel were overwhelmingly enthused about their lifestyle, yet worried about the future. This is what we learned:

If you are a lobster, all is well. You have plenty of friends and family, and if you are lucky to make it past a certain size, you are always thrown back so that you can go get even more tail. In short and overall, the lobster fishery is sustainable and always has been. This because, unlike other commercial fisherman, the Maine lobsterman figured out a long while ago the bit about where lobster babies come from. Since you inherited your one and only watery plot, it was let them mate, or screw yourself.

But right now these forthright folks are worried for reasons that are mostly above sea level. Though it is true that Maine lobsterman are “landing” 40 per cent less than in the go go years of the late eighties and early nineties, when the harvest mysteriously almost quadrupled, this is for reasons that are not entirely clear and supposedly “cyclical”. Just like for many of us, those were the good old days, and there was so much lobster they started shipping them to Canada to be processed. A full 70 percent of the catch still goes there but because no processing plants were built in the Maine, these evil Canadian  canners, (which are rumored to be subsidized)  can now largely set the price of lobster. They then sell it at any price the world will pay, and, as a final insult, label it produced in Canada. This had the Maine lobstermen on stage in fits of anger.

But the canny canners of Canada are not their only problem. Today, the price of diesel is killing you. The price of bait is way up. Since the average lobsterman currently nets (or traps) a mere 25 thousand dollars a year,  there is worry that without changing traditional practices, many will be forced out of the business.

A key figure is the number of pounds a trap produces. In a study on Monhegan Island, a lower trap density was found, not entirely surprisingly, to yield a much higher amount of lobster, yielding in turn higher efficiencies and consequently lowering costs. But traditionally, more traps has always been mo’ bettah, so this kind of restraint is not going to come naturally. Shorter seasons also produce greater yields, and also are contrary to people who love their work as much as these guys do. (Yeah, apparently not too many lobsterwomen out there...)  Another debate is whether its worth waiting for them to get hard. Lobsters get hard in the summer, and get a higher price because they are hardier and can be shipped much further.  So there was talk of leaving more of the lobsters in the ocean longer, something that also runs contrary to habit. Much of these changes entail a more collective approach, and lobsterman prize their freedom very highly. The Maine State Legislature writes the major regulations. Those must be some lively sessions.

So, surprising as it seems, the Maine lobster industry is just waking up to the need to compete globally, and build itself as a brand. Luckily, they already are the leading brand. Just like everyone else, they need to cut out the middleman, and add more value so they can get better prices. Lot of this kind of thing going around right now.

One of the panelists, John Hathaway, has started a company called Shucks Maine Lobster, and his company is at the forefront of this evolution. The shucking in question occurs when the live lobsters are put in a water filled tank that is then put under tremendous amounts of pressure. This has the happy double effect of enabling the meat to be easily removed from the shell, and killing any bacteria that might speed spoilage. The resulting meat is then shipped fresh, all over the world. Because, as was amply acknowledged, everybody loves eating lobster, but nobody likes cleaning it.

So look for some trendy new lobster looks. Someday soon your fresh lobster may only be available for a few months of the year, and at a higher price.  And it may arrive as meat only, wearing nothing but a big sign around its neck that very proudly reads, Made in Maine.

http://www.mainelobstermen.org/default.asp

http://www.shucksmaine.com/