Scarborough, Maine – The capture of the American lobster industry continues to slide while fishermen fight with migration north of the valuable crustaceans.
The industry is mainly based on Maine, where lobsters are both a cultural signifier and the backbone of the coastal economy. The state’s lobster route has rejected every year From 2021, when it was almost 111 million pounds, until 2023, when it was less than 97 million pounds.
This decrease extended until 2024, when the route was approximately 86.1 million pounds, according to data published by state regulators on Friday. That is the lowest figure in 15 years. TO Important storm series That the damaged communities in front of the sea and the interrupted fisheries were a key factor in reduced capture, authorities said.
Governor Janet Mills, a Democrat, praised the industry for her perseverance.
“For a year made up of storms and unprecedented damage to our work coasts, commercial fishermen and Marshal traffickers of Maine once again provided a great economic benefit for our state,” he said.
Last year’s capture was still historically high, since Maine’s fishermen never exceeded 80 million pounds before 2009. The sets in the 2000s were typically between 50 million and 80 million pounds. The sets in the mid -2010 were routinely exceeding 120 million pounds.
The fishery remained economically strong in 2024. Maine fishermen took home more than $ 528 million on the docks, and that was the highest total since 2021, state officials said. The demand for the product, one of the most expensive shellfish, remained high, and the price per pound was one of the highest registered.
The State is facing the challenges of climate change in front, said Patrick Keliher, commissioner of the Maine Marine Resources Department. The governor has ensured funds to “help rebuild damaged coastal infrastructure, make it more resistant to the effects of climate change and protect critical coastal access for those who make a living in water,” he said.
But numerous environmental and economic challenges threaten the future of the industry. One of the largest is the decrease in the number of Baby lobsters Accommodate in New England. Young lobsters have to take refuge and grow legal size to maintain the future of the fishery. Scientists have said that the lobster population is migrating to the north to colder habitats as the oceans heat up.
The Maine’s lobster industry is also linked to the Canadian seafood industry and could be interrupted by New rates. Canadian fishermen harvest the same lobster species as US fishermen, and much of seafood processing capacity is found in Canada. Tariffs are likely to increase prices on both sides of the border, they said members of the industry.
Another important challenge is the possibility of new rules to protect the right whales of the North Atlantic in critical danger, which are vulnerable to tangle in commercial fishing equipment. Fishing groups have been involved in prolonged judicial cases Against the government on stricter fishing rules.
Other states, including Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire, also have lobster fishing industries, but Maine’s is, with much, the largest, and the size of the Maine harvest gives a firm indication of the health of the American lobster industry in general. Maine represented approximately 78% of the country’s total lobster in 2023.
