August 4, 2017 — ROCKLAND, Maine — This is peak season for eating Maine lobster. The proof is in the pots, or the cookers, at the 70th annual Maine Lobster Festival in Rockland. Crowds eagerly gobbled up plates of hot lobster ton Thursday, and many went back for seconds.
Ellen Robinson came to Maine from Tennessee, and said her goal was, “to eat lobster as much as I can hold, which I’m doing, and I will eat more.”
The lobster industry likes to hear those comments, as they show there are plenty of customers waiting for what Maine fishermen catch. The industry has seen record catches and income in recent years. But researchers have said there appear to be fewer small, juvenile lobsters growing on the bottom of the inshore areas of the Gulf of Maine.
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission has decided to study the conservation efforts in the three states of the Gulf to determine what works best, and whether any changes are needed to keep the population healthy.