Saving Seafood

MAINE: Surf and dearth: Maine’s lobster industry faces a reckoning

March 12, 2026 — Next time you go to a seafood restaurant, you may have trouble ordering one of the ocean’s delicacies. Maine’s lobster industry declined for the fourth-straight year, state regulators said this month, in a continuing drop that marks a 17-year low for the state’s lobster haul. This has led people in the state lobster business to sound warning bells, given that the vast majority of lobster in the United States comes from them.

Why is Maine’s lobster industry having trouble?

The principal cause is a large drop in the number of fishing expeditions in the state. Maine lobster harvesters “took over 21,000 fewer fishing trips in 2025 than in 2024, a nearly 10% decline in fishing effort,” Carl Wilson, the commissioner of the Department of Marine Resources, said in the press release. These fishermen were forced to take fewer trips because “rising bait, fuel and gear prices made many trips economically unviable,” said the Portland Press Herald. Shifting climate patterns also play a role, causing a “late molt that limited access to the soft-shell lobsters that feed Maine tourists.” Delays like these can lead to a much less bountiful harvest.

Read the full article at The Week

MAINE: Evan Whidden named Maine Lobstermen’s Association 2026 Marine Patrol Officer of the Year

March 12, 2026 — Marine Patrol Specialist Evan Whidden was again honored with the Maine Lobstermen’s Association Marine Patrol Officer of the Year Award during the recent Fishermen’s Forum. Specialist Whidden, who joined the Marine Patrol in 2020 and serves in Section Two which runs from Harpswell to Bremen, also received the honor in 2023.

In nominating Specialist Whidden, Sergeant Wesley Dean recognized both his work ethic and professionalism.

“In 2025, Evan logged 683 hours underway and hauled 9,421 lobster traps, making him the most productive Marine Patrol Specialist in the state and helping ensure the lobster fishery remained well monitored and effectively enforced,” said Sergeant Dean.

“As captain, Evan’s steady leadership and sound judgment are valued by officers within his section and division,” said Sergeant Dean. “Officers trust his decision-making, appreciate his experience, and seek opportunities to work with him. He is self-motivated, knowledgeable about the fisheries, and leads by example during day-to-day operations”

Read the full article at Penobscot Bay Pilot

MAINE: Maine lobster landings down again after 2010s boom

March 10, 2026 — Maine lobster harvesters took over 21,000 fewer fishing trips last year, which likely contributed to another decline in total lobster landings.

That’s according to preliminary data released Friday from the Maine Department of Marine Resources

Maine’s lobsterman landed 78.8 million total pounds in 2025, which topped all other fisheries in the state, but is about seven million pounds less than the 2024 harvest.

DMR Commissioner Carl Wilson said the decline represents a return to normalcy after a major boom in the 2010s.

“78, 79 million pounds of lobster; that would have been absolutely celebrated as just amazing,” he said. “But when you had the spikes as high as we did in 2015, 2016… when you start to return to Earth, it hits a little bit different.”

Read the full article at Maine Public

MAINE: Maine fishing industry continues to reel in big money despite fewer lobsters being caught

March 9, 2026 — New numbers released Friday show Maine’s fishing industry continues to reel in big money, topping half a billion dollars now for a 14th straight year.

Lobster is still king, topping all fisheries, with nearly 79 million pounds hauled in last year.

However, 2025 was Maine’s lowest lobster catch in 17 years. Local lobstermen say it’s not because there are fewer lobsters in the sea, just fewer fishermen to catch them.

Read the full article at WGME

Maine commercial fisheries topped $600M in 2025, led by the lobster industry

March 6, 2026 — Maine’s commercial fishermen earned more than $619 million in 2025, marking the 14th consecutive year the state’s fisheries have surpassed $500 million in value, according to preliminary data released by the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR).

Harvesters earned $619,053,489 last year, driven largely by the state’s lobster industry.

“Once again, Maine fishermen and sea farmers in 2025 delivered premium products sought by consumers around the world who value nutritious, sustainably harvested seafood,” Gov. Janet Mills said in a statement.

Lobster remained Maine’s most valuable fishery by far. Harvesters landed 78.8 million pounds of American lobster in 2025, with a total value of $461.4 million. The average boat price was $5.85 per pound, the third-highest on record.

Still, officials say inflation and other pressures affected the industry. DMR Commissioner Carl Wilson said that when adjusted for inflation, the overall value of the lobster fishery was closer to what harvesters earned in 2008.

Read the full article at News Center Maine

MAINE: A seasonal check-in for Maine’s lobster industry

March 2, 2026 — In this edition of Marketplace’s Economic Pulse, we take a look at Maine’s lobster industry, where fisheries play a central role in the state’s economy. In 2024, Maine’s commercial fisheries brought in roughly $700 million in value, with lobster making up the largest share of that total.

Marketplace’s David Brancaccio spoke with Sonny Beal, a lobsterman and member of the board of directors at the Maine Lobstermen’s Association, about the state of the industry. The following is an edited transcript of their conversation.

David Brancaccio: I guess it’s like actors who never say the name of the Scottish Shakespeare play, because bad things will then happen. What is it that lobster folks stay away from the precise number of how their catch was?

Sonny Beal: We’re usually pretty secretive on what we catch, because if somebody finds out that you’re doing good, they might move in on your territory and stuff. So we try to keep it kind of hush-hush.

Brancaccio: Yeah. And as it refers to your business, what’s the vibe?

Beal: The catch was down a little bit this season. It was down about 30% statewide. We can’t have record years every year, so, you know, we kind of just take it for what it is. The price is down a little bit from last year, but last year was a record price. So we’re still chugging along. And we have good years and bad years, and we take it as it goes.

Read the full article at the Marketplace

MAINE: What warming waters could mean for Maine’s fishing economy

February 10, 2026 — Fishing is a major part of Maine’s economy, with commercial fisheries generating about $709 million in 2024, according to state data. But what happens when a warming climate begins to collide with business?

Scientists consider the Gulf of Maine to be one of the fastest-warming ocean regions in the world — and changing conditions have already reshaped parts of the industry.

In Maine, warming waters have contributed to long-term declines in northern shrimp populations. Shrimp fisheries in the Gulf of Maine have been closed for more than a decade, after regulators imposed a moratorium on shrimping — a ban that has now been extended until 2028.

And it’s not just shrimp.

Graham Sherwood, a senior scientist at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, says warming waters could begin to affect Maine’s billion-dollar lobster industry, even as the fishery remains strong today.

Marketplace’s Sabri Ben-Achour spoke with Sherwood. The following is an edited transcript of their conversation.

Read the full article at Marketplace

Trump ends Obama-era restrictions on commercial fishing in protected area off New England

February 9, 2026 — President Donald Trump issued a proclamation on Friday reopening a huge swath of protected sea in the Atlantic Ocean to commercial fishing.

Trump said the move would reestablish fishing in Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument off the New England coast, a nearly 5,000-square-mile preserve east of Cape Cod that was created by former President Barack Obama. Trump rolled back protections in the area in 2020 and President Joe Biden later restored them.

Commercial fishing groups have long sought the reopening of the protected area and voiced support on Friday.

“We deserve to be rewarded, not penalized,” said John Williams, president and owner of the New Bedford, Massachusetts-based Atlantic Red Crab Company. “We’re demonstrating that we can fish sustainably and continue to harvest on a sustainable level in perpetuity.”

Read the full article at the Associated Press

$30M for right whale research could also help lobster industry

January 21, 2026 — A congressional funding bill contains $30 million for research and monitoring related to the North Atlantic right whale, an endangered species closely tied to the regulation of the lobster industry in Maine and other New England states.

The money is designated for the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, which oversees state-regulated fisheries.

North Atlantic right whales are one of the world’s most at-risk species, approaching extinction. Threats include entanglement in fishing gear, vessel strikes and climate change.

The money is part of the fiscal year 2026 Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Appropriations bill that passed the U.S. Senate last week, previously approved by the House of Representatives and now heading to President Donald Trump’s desk to be signed into law.

“This funding will support Maine’s lobster industry by improving the incomplete and imprecise science and research upon which the federal government relies,” said U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, chair of the appropriations committee.

Read the full article at Mainebiz

Maine Sea Grant receives $2M in new NOAA awards to support innovative American lobster research, outreach

January 21, 2026 — The Maine Sea Grant Program at the University of Maine has received $2 million in funding.

$1.4 million of the funding comes from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), awarded to support research and outreach activities of the NOAA Sea Grant-funded American Lobster Initiative. Another $600,000 has been provided in second-year support for four 2025-26 American lobster research awards.

With this new four-year NOAA award, Maine Sea Grant and its regional partners will support collaborative research to address complex challenges facing the American lobster fishery, according to UMaine News, in a news release. The initiative will also synthesize research findings so they are accessible and actionable for fishermen, policymakers and the public, and support place-based technical assistance within the Gulf of Maine, Georges Bank and Southern New England region.

The American lobster (Homarus americanus) is among the nation’s most valuable fisheries, with approximately 113 million pounds landed in 2024, valued at $715 million. The industry supports thousands of Maine families across the fishing and seafood supply chain and faces growing uncertainty driven by environmental and market change.

“This underscores the need for collaborative research to understand how lobsters are responding to changing conditions and how best to sustain the fishery,” said UMaine, in the release.

Read the full article at Penobscot Bay Pilot