Maine’s lobster industry is caught in a trap

Deals can also be had at restaurants.

At Verillo's in Portland, for instance, you can get a lobster dinner with clam chowder, mussels, cole slaw, french fries, rolls and strawberry shortcake for $14.99 — which is priced lower than last summer.

But what's good for consumers is another financial trap for lobstermen.

With diesel fuel selling for close to $5 a gallon and bait prices 25 percent higher than a year ago, lobstermen already have a tough time. In Boothbay Harbor, longtime lobsterman Clive Ferrin is trying to make ends meet by charging tourists — $25 for adults, $15 for children — to come out on his 32-foot boat while he's pulling traps.

Ferrin's not surprised that lobster prices are down. He's noticed fewer tourists in town this summer and suspects that those who are coming are less prone to order lobster dinners when eating out. Locals, he added, are fearful of how much they're going to have to spend on heating oil to keep their homes warm next winter.

"It wouldn't do us any good to catch more lobster because if we do, it'll drive down the prices even more," Ferrin said.

That's exactly what could well happen in the weeks ahead now that lobster catches are coming on strong along Maine's 3,500-mile coastline.

The "boat price" paid to fishermen is down 75 cents a pound or more from a year ago.

"It hasn't been good for the lobster industry, and it may get worse," Workman said. "But if there's a silver lining, it's that if the cost of lobster goes down" that should eventually turn demand — and prices — around.

For now, seafood sales at Roger Reed's waterfront store, Portland Lobster Pound & Fish Market, are down more than 30 percent this year.

"People have to save money for more important things," Reed said.

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