Lobster Prices

The lobster industry is probably the biggest year-round industry on the coast of Maine (the seasonal tourism industry is said to be the state’s biggest), and the single most important indicator of how well it is doing is the price fishermen get for their catch, also known as “the boat price.”
For four of the past six years (2009 stats are not yet available) the average annual boat price in Maine has been at or above $4 per pound, according to figures compiled by Maine Department of Marine Resources. In 2008, it dropped to $3.50 after having been $4.43 the year before.
As a result, the value of lobster brought ashore in Maine dropped from $283 million in 2007 to $244 million in 2008, even though the volume of landings during those same two years went up from 64 million pounds to nearly 70 million pounds.
According to Maine Lobstermen’s Association, its latest survey of lobster prices in Maine indicates that boat prices currently are about $4 per pound. On the surface, this would seem to be a good thing, based on past annual averages.
But it might not be. Most lobstermen either stay ashore or fish for other species for the winter, which usually results in prices increasing in late winter and spring as the supply of lobster drops. The current boat prices are about $1 to $1.50 per pound lower than they were a year ago, according to MLA.
The steep reduction in boat prices since the end of 2008 has put the pinch on many fishermen, with a good percentage of them having difficulty making boat payments on bank loans that had seemed sensible only a few years before. As prices lobstermen have received for their catch have sunk over the past 18 months, the cost of diesel fuel and bait have stayed high. At the same time, fishermen have been ordered by the feds to use more expensive sinking (and presumably whale-safe) ground lines on trap trawls they set roughly three miles or more offshore. It's been a double whammy of cheaper prices and higher expenses, and it has given many fishermen trouble with keeping their heads above water, financially speaking.
If prices don't climb higher by April, even if they do so for only a few weeks, it likely won't inspire a lot of confidence in the 2010 season.
But the price of lobster now or two months from now might not have any effect on prices that the market might dictate this coming summer and fall, according to industry officials. Tourists have a huge influence on the summer lobster market, and tourism frequently is affected by unpredictable factors such as weather.
So the price of lobster now may not be all that important. It's the prices fishermen get from July through November that really matter.
In other words, stay tuned. For many small towns and harbors along the Maine coast, lobster fishing is the only reliable means of full-time employment. For many inhabited offshore islands, it is the only thing keeping their year-round communities alive. The lackluster prices no doubt have spurred many Maine fishing families to make financial adjustments, but if 2010 proves to be another year of low lobster prices, it won't be good for fishermen or for Maine's coastal economy.