Lobstermen all along Maine’s coast were staying on shore, and meeting to plan a united response, after a series of man-made and natural events led to a dramatic price drop, earlier this month.
A meeting in Port Clyde, July 9, and one attended by more than 50 fishermen in New Harbor, July 10, called on lobstermen to stay ashore and keep their boats tied to moorings, at least through the coming weekend.
Ryan Post represents District 12 (Big Green Island, Little Green Island, Metinic Island and Monhegan Island) on the Zone D Lobster Council. Zone D comprises the waters between Cape Rosier and Pemaquid Point. Post said the severe drop in prices affects far more than just the lobster industry.
“We’re trying to unite as lobstermen,” he said. “We were basically forced to shut down by buyers saying they can’t keep taking the product. This has proven that we rely too much on Canada and Canadian processors.”
At the New Harbor Meeting, lobstermen were told that only eight out of more than 20 Canadian plants were currently up and running. Those processors normally take Canadian lobsters early in the season and buy from U.S. ports later in the summer.
“Mother nature got this going,” Post said. “The water temperature never dropped below 40 degrees all winter. We got an early run of soft shells.” Post said surface temperatures off Metinic, that historically never rise to more than 63 degrees Fahrenheit, have already reached 64 or 65 degrees.
“Processors are only set up to take care of the norm,” Post said. “What happened these last few weeks was not normal.” He said a normal day’s catch at this time of year would be 20-30 pounds.
“The last day out, I caught 600 pounds,” Post said.
Tim Chadwick manages the North End Lobster Co-op in Wiscasett. He said his co-op is not seeing such dramatic differences in the catch, because river tides submerge the buoys at times, limiting the hours during which traps can be hauled.
On July 9, Chadwick was paying $2.30 per pound and selling for $2.85.
“That’s enough to pay me and the lights,” Chadwick said.
“There are so many restaurants in this state that have lobster for sale and they never drop their prices,” he said. “No matter if the lobstermen are getting $1.50, they’re getting their $25 at the restaurants.”
The boat price that is paid to lobstermen was consistently higher in Zone E, Pemaquid to Small Point, and to the west than it was in Zone D.
To the east of Wiscasset, prices were even lower. Post said the boat price in Knox County ports was less than $2 per pound, and might slip further. He said the warming ocean was changing lobsters’ molting cycle
Greg Morris, of Port Clyde, came to the New Harbor meeting to ask fellow fishermen to work together. He said the price was down to $1.85 in Port Clyde.
“I haven’t been catching nearly as many hard shells as I would normally, because they’ve all shed,” Post said. “The lobsters don’t care what the date is. They go on water temperature.”
He said the softshell lobsters, known as shedders, that normally begin coming into traps in mid-July, began arriving more than four weeks ago.
According to Department of Marine Resources lobster biologist Carl Wilson, deep water temperatures this past winter were 2-4 degrees warmer than in the last 8-10 years.
“As a general rule, lobsters migrate to deeper water in the winter to avoid really cold shallow water temperatures,” Wilson said in June. “In summer the shallow water is warmer.” Wilson said lobsters that spent the winter in “significantly warmer conditions” did not go into dormancy. Because they continued to eat and grow, “It’s no surprise that they had an early shed.”
Wilson said the lobsters would probably harden up earlier, as well. He said water temperatures were likely to normalize as the season progresses, but would probably be warmer than usual again next winter. He said unpredictable temperatures could have residual effects on the industry.
Post said he believes climate change, and the unpredictability of the weather that it creates, makes predicting the future impossible.
“That’s the million dollar question,” he said. “Is this going to happen next year? Is it going to keep getting warmer? I think it is.’
David Osier, of Osier’s Wharf in South Bristol, said the only relief he could see for Maine lobstermen would come when processors use all the lobsters currently floating in crates in Canada and fishermen in that country stop hauling, after July 15.
“They are hardshell,” he said July 9. “They get a better yield out of them.” He said the market for U.S. lobsters usually doesn’t begin until late July.
While he would not say what he was getting from wholesale buyers, Osier said his current price to fishermen was $2, plus a year-end bonus that will range between 20 and 30 cents per pound.
New Harbor Lobster Co-op President Brian Sawyer said there were more than 100 lobstermen at the Port Clyde meeting.
“We’ve got 1970 prices and 2012 expenses,” he told those gathered in the co-op parking lot at dawn, July 11. He said fishermen from Stonington expected the price to drop below $1, unless something was done to unite the industry.
Sawyer suggested lobstermen organize to negotiate prices during the winter, before the hauling season begins in most of the state’s nine lobster zones.
“This is not just about the lobstermen,” Post said. “This is going to affect the whole economy. We saw it a couple of years ago.”
In 2008, ripple effects from a banking crash in Iceland took Canadian processors by surprise and caused lobster prices in Maine to plummet. Fallout from the price drop led to reduced sales for everything from lobster boats to pickup trucks and trickled down to other retail markets in the region.
Sawyer said market instability in Greece and the European Union also has an impact on U.S. lobster prices.
“All these things have combined to really put the squeeze on us,” he said.
He said those at the Port Clyde meeting called for their fellow fishermen to keep some of their product out of the market for a week or so.
“Perhaps the price will creep up a little bit,” Sawyer said. He said it is illegal for the fishermen to set a specific price. “We need a lot more than two dollars to make a living.” He said it would benefit dealers, processors and retailers if lobstermen were more organized.
“They can’t work without us, and we can’t fish without them” he said.
“We’re not asking for six bucks a pound,” Post said. “The economics just don’t work if you’re getting two bucks.”
In a July 9 press release, DMR Commissioner Patrick Keliher said the state would not close the lobster fishery.
“I have reviewed our statutory authorities and they do not allow us to shut down the fishery for economic reasons,” Keliher said. He said DMR officials have heard that some fishermen are threatening to cut off the gear of those who continue to fish during the tie-up.
“The State will not tolerate any trap molestation, and any such actions will be met with targeted and swift enforcement or other appropriate action,” Keliher said. “Harvesters should also be aware that such actions may be in violation of federal antitrust laws.”
At the New Harbor meeting, Sawyer called for a straw vote, asking for a show of hands of those willing to stay tied up until Monday, July 16. When the vote was taken, the sea of raised hands showed a clear consensus to support the tie-up.
Lobstermen from all nine lobster zones plan to meet on Sunday, July 15, at Snow Marine Park in the South End of Rockland, to be updated on prices and discuss options for the future.
