With lobster prices running near $2 a pound boat price, some Bremen lobstermen are stacking their traps while a task force tries to figure out how to bail out the industry.
Roughly one and a half weeks ago, Bremen lobstermen were getting $2.35 per pound boat price for their catch.
On Friday, Scott Plummer, who buys lobster from the Bremen fishermen said he expected the price to drop below $2. At the cost of bait ($100 per barrel, at least one used per day) and fuel, not to mention other overhead, many lobstermen are losing money.
Gary Genthner, Sr., a Bremen lobsterman who said he has been working on the ocean for over 40 years is struck by the magnitude of the calamity that has hit home.
“We need a fair price,” he said during a recent telephone interview. “This is Maine, the biggest state for lobsters and they’re sold all over the world.”
Genthner said the lobsters he brings in get snapped up and shipped off, regardless of price. At the same time, he noted the high prices for lobster still charged in area restaurants.
“Things would change if, when the price went down, everybody took a hit,” he added.
Bremen lobstermen bring in a lot of “select” (larger) lobsters Genthner said. They make more money as poundage increases, but he said the dealers make additional per pound money on the select lobsters, as they are worth more in the greater market.
“It’s an honest living,” but the drastic price drop makes it feel “like you’re being robbed,” he said.
Kerin Resch of Eastern Traders, Ltd. in Nobleboro said it is not a healthy business environment for the Maine lobster.
“Thin shelled (shedders) lobsters have horrible survivability,” Resch said. His company recently purchased 101 crates of lobster, but could use just a third of them,
Much of the shedders the Nobleboro company buys are shipped to processors for butchering. Stacked up against a competitive world market, the bulk of Maine lobster meat suffers a lower price.
Harvesters in Canada haul only hardshell lobsters between April and July.
Resch, who ships some of the bulk Maine lobster meat to Canada, said the north of the border fishermen are paid an average price of about $3 per pound for their hardshell catch. Hardshelled lobsters yield more meat than shedders.
At this time, most Maine lobsters are shedders.
“It’s a tough situation,” he said.
The Moseley Group, an industry research firm based in Franklin, Mass., estimates that to put a price tag on the problem facing the industry as a whole, it would cost roughly $2.2 million to retool the marketing of the Maine lobster and jack the boat price back up.
This funding, much of which is not readily available due to economic constraints affecting state government, and time is needed to address all of the marketing strategies and projects recommended by the Moseley Group. The firm was hired by the state to assist the task force endorsed by Gov. John Baldacci last fall in response to sharp declines in lobster catch prices at that time.
In a strategic plan prepared by Moseley on behalf of the governor’s task force for the economic sustainability of Maine’s lobster industry, analysts estimate up to 20 percent of the harvest is lost to mortality through the distribution channel. They estimate the loss amounts to roughly $50 million to the industry each year.
“There is no single factor more important to future financial success of the industry than improving yield. We believe this profitability leak can be stemmed through industry reform of handling practices,” the plan states.
Resch cites the lack of sales and disastrous weather conditions as part of the problem affecting the market, in addition to a depressed global economy.
“You’ve got people out there who were using their credit cards to pay their mortgages. They’re not going to spend money on lobster, he said.”
In response to the $2.2 million cost to fix the Maine industry, Resch also doesn’t think the state has the money to spend, but acknowledged the work of the task force has been a step in the right direction.
According to Deirdre Gilbert, special assistant to the commissioner at the Maine Dept. of Marine Resources, the combined recommendations of The Moseley Group and task force will seek to improve industry conditions over the long term.
The boat price in Lincoln County towns such as Bremen will likely not jump up in the current economy, but steps the state takes now will likely make for more favorable conditions in the future. That’s the goal of industry specialists working on the case.
“There’s no silver bullet,” Gilbert said, adding that the recommendations are part of a much larger process.
The task force is drafting a letter to convey proposals to the governor and is determining the structure for a transition team, who will carry the recommendations forward. According to Gilbert, the transition team has two tasks ahead: to tackle the marketing strategy for the industry and to pilot the Maine Lobster Harvest campaign recommended by The Moseley Group.
As described at length in the strategic plan, existing structures for the marketing of Maine lobster are not working to their full potential.
According to Gilbert, there are four processors in Maine with latent capacity. Simply processing more lobster instate would not solve the problem, she said.
Resulting from information gained through task force efforts and the strategic plan, part of the effort would be to create demand for a higher end price. The study revealed what would help the lobster industry in Maine would be to diversify the product stream, making other products to satisfy a wider consumer population.
The plan reads, “The Maine Lobster Harvest program would be developed for easy adoption by multiple chains, a turnkey solution for retailers to merchandise and highlight Maine lobster. The program would focus on live and processed lobster, and could highlight innovative packaging and in-store displays.”
Funding to help marketing initiatives is likely to come from the Lobster Research Educational Board. They receive funds from the Maine lobster license plate and will make recommendations to the commissioner’s office at the DMR.
According to Gilbert, the board agreed to release some $300,000 to assist with some of the costs associated with recommendations on the strategic plan.
The strategic plan also mentions other possible funding sources such as the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, public and private research foundations and the development of a Maine lobster conservation brand of consumer products sold to support the industry.
To read the strategic plan, visit the Maine Dept. of Marine Resources website at www.maine.gov/dmr.
