October 19, 2026 — A sharp decline in baby lobsters offered an early warning of substantial losses in Maine’s Midcoast lobster population, according to a new University of Maine study that connects falling numbers across successive stages of the crustaceans’ lives.
Researchers found that an 80% decline in baby lobsters sampled between 2010 and 2022 preceded declines farther along in the population: a 70% decrease in young lobsters since 2015 and a 50% decrease in adults large enough for fishermen to catch.
The findings show how a shortage of the smallest lobsters can work its way through the population, eventually reducing the number reaching harvestable size. They also underscore the importance of monitoring lobsters years before they enter the commercial fishery.
The study’s midcoast region, extending from Brunswick to the Schoodic Peninsula, recorded the steepest declines in the Gulf of Maine. That broad study area encompasses the waters off Waldo County and much of Maine’s central coast.
The losses followed a substantial boom. From the 2000s to the 2010s, the number of lobsters sampled in the region doubled before the trend reversed.
The research adds to evidence that the Gulf of Maine’s lobster population has declined since the mid-2010s, raising questions about the future of a fishery that generated more than $461 million in Maine landings in 2025.