Value of Maine lobster catch plunges from 2005 peak amid global economic woes _ despite record

Maine lobster catch hits record, value goes down

PORTLAND, Maine — Maine lobstermen had a record harvest in 2009, but the value of the catch continued to plunge amid the sour global economy.

Lobstermen caught 75.6 million pounds last year, up 8 percent from 2008, the Maine Department of Marine Resources announced Monday. But the value of the catch fell $23 million, to $221.7 million.

The catch numbers show the supply is in good shape and that lobstermen are fishing hard to make up for the lower prices they’re receiving, said Marine Resources Commissioner George Lapointe.

The low value is a reflection of the poor economy worldwide and people cutting luxury items out of their budgets, he said. The value of last year’s harvest is $96 million less than its peak value in 2005.

That means lobstermen have less money to spend on new boats, pickup trucks, gear and other things in Maine’s coastal communities.

“If there’s $20 million or $100 million less they’re spending in their local economies, that ripples through grocery stores and gas stations and things like that, just like the rest of the economy,” Lapointe said.

Maine is the nation’s lobster breadbasket, accounting for 80 percent of the U.S. catch of the so-called Maine lobster.

Lobstermen have taken a huge hit since the economy melted down in 2008, sending lobster prices to levels not seen in decades.

Lobstermen last year got an average of $2.93 a pound, roughly the same price they were getting in 1998. They averaged $3.50 a pound in 2008 and $4.39 a pound in 2007.

Lobstermen were pleased with last year’s catch, but the low prices — coupled with the higher costs of diesel and bait and new rope required to reduce whale entanglements — have forced fishermen to rethink the way they do business, said Dwight Carver, who fishes out of Beals Island in eastern Maine.

Right now, Carver said, lobstermen are being paid about $5 a pound for lobster. That’s low for this time of the year and points toward lower prices again this summer.

“It isn’t a real pretty picture,” Carver said. “But it’s what I’ve chosen to do for a living, so I’ve got to make adjustments and make it work.”

Arnie Gamage Jr., who fishes from South Bristol, said lobstermen have put off maintenance on their boat engines and have delayed replacing gear. Boat builders are struggling because lobstermen are keeping their aging boats instead of buying new ones.

“We’re surviving. That’s all I can say. We look at each other and we say, ‘We still got jobs,’” he said. “You fish and you hope that at the end of the day you come out of it with some profit.”

Associated Press Writer David Sharp out of Portland contributed to this report.