Maine lobstermen take to selling own catch

For the year, lobstermen averaged just under $3.50 a pound for their catch, down from $4.44 in 2007, with prices falling to under $2.50 a pound in some places last fall. The outlook isn't bright this year, either.

Fishermen in Canada this spring were getting about $3 (U.S.) a pound for their catch — about half what they were getting two years ago, said Ed Frenette, executive director of the Prince Edward Island Fishermen's Association.

Things have gotten so bad in the lobster-rich Maritime provinces that Canada's federal government in recent weeks came forth with $75 million in assistance for the industry. About 50 Prince Edward Island fishermen sold lobsters out of their trucks this spring to bring in extra money, Frenette said.

Prices are low in Maine, as well, with fishermen getting $1 to $1.50 less per pound wholesale for their catch from dealers than they were getting a year ago.

From traps to table
Several lobstermen have posted ads on Craigslist, the online classified site, in search of customers. Eric Love of Yarmouth has had a few sales there, but nothing to brag about, he said.

"It's scary to have a big investment with my boat and all these traps," said Love, 26, who's been lobster fishing for eight years.

Three lobstermen set up a small retail shop of their own, Griffin's Lobster Barn, in Scarborough; their slogan is "from our traps to your table."

Longtime lobsterman Jim Holden has been selling his catch sporadically along Portland's Commercial Street from the back of his pickup truck. His plywood sign reads: "Lobsters fresh off the boat."

He has little control over costs — for fuel, bait and other expenses — and he's fishing 800 traps, the maximum allowed. But at least he can control how he markets his product, he said.

Holden hasn't had much trouble selling his lobsters, he said, but the true test will come when both the supply and demand spike up in the summer tourist season ahead. Holden, like other lobstermen, sells only a portion of his catch on his own; he sells the rest to lobster dealers.

"The bottom line," he said, "is they need you, and you need them."

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