Maine’s lobsterfolk
learned early that unregulated fishing could destroy
their livelihood. Today, the state’s lobster
fishery is a prime example of successful self regulation.
Although the overall catch isn’t limited and
the season runs all year, many rules keep the harvest
sustainable. Here are a few:
Maine sets a statewide trap limit, and individual lobstering zones
have their own trap limits.
Unlike other lobster fisheries, Maine has minimum and maximum size
restrictions to protect both juveniles and the large, healthy breeding
stock. Harvesters carry a gauge that measures the lobster from the
rear of the eyes to the rear of the body shell (where the tail starts).
Specimens measuring less than 3-1/4 inches or more than 5 inches
go back in the water. Massachusetts, in contrast, has no maximum
size.
A female with visible eggs on her tail can’t be kept. Before
tossing her back, the harvester notches her tail to identify her
as a good breeder. Lobsters with notched tails must be returned to
the water even if they’re not showing eggs.
New harvesters have to apprentice with veterans to learn the regulated
sustainable practices, and only a limited number of new licenses
are issued annually.
Harvesting in Maine is by traps only—no diving or dragging
allowed. Traps must have escape hatches for small lobsters and a
biodegradable hatch in case the trap is lost.
The Maine Lobster Seed Fund, supported by license fees, purchases
and returns to the sea those females that extrude eggs after landing.
Imagine living at a time when lobsters were so abundant
and cheap that farmers crushed them for fertilizer. That was America in colonial
times, when lobster was so plentiful and little valued that prison wardens fed
it to inmates and fishermen considered it a bycatch. Lobsters four feet long
and weighing 45 pounds were not uncommon in those days. Some say that coastal
dwellers in Maine could fetch their lobster dinner from tidal pools with bare
hands.
An organized commercial lobster fishery didn’t develop in Maine until the 1840s.
By then, lobsters were becoming scarcer and thus more valuable. The invention
of a fishing vessel known as a well smack, which had a tank that circulated sea
water, enabled lobstermen to ship their catch live over longer distances. At
about the same time, American industrialists perfected the technique of preserving
food in tin cans. Lobster canneries multiplied in Maine, and by 1880, canned
Maine lobster surpassed the live product in volume. Unlike the live catch, canned
lobster could make it all the way to California.
By the turn of the century, the canneries began to decline as railroads expanded their reach, making it possible to ship lobsters live under moist seaweed and ice. Once air shipping came along in the 1950s, live lobsters could
cross the country overnight. Today, an estimated 90 percent of Maine lobsters
leave Maine for parts near and far.
Modern lobster harvesters operate much like their predecessors did a century ago, although the boats have gotten more sophisticated. A well-equipped 40-foot lobster boat, complete with hundreds of traps, radar, sonar, communications systems and other electronics, can cost more than $200,000. The electronics can identify the depth and topography of the ocean floor, helping the lobstermen decide where to place traps. These boats are a great source of pride, and people maintain them zealously.
Lobstering is often a family affair in Maine, with techniques and territories
passed from one generation to the next. No official boundaries determine where each boat can drop its traps, but local families know whose territory is where. A newcomer who doesn’t respect these unwritten agreements won’t have an easy time because lobstering families know each other and watch out for each other.
