Lobster Surveys Show Healthy Stock Despite Decrease in Landings

Kathleen Reardon led the annual review of Department of Marine Resources (DMR) 2025 lobster survey findings during the DMR Science Updates session at the Maine Fishermen’s Forum. The review was preceded by the department’s announcement that preliminary 2025 lobster landings came in at 78.8 million pounds, a decline of approximately eight million pounds from 2024.

A multitude of environmental and economic factors influenced lobster landings in 2025. MLMC photo.

“Lobster abundance is down from its peak. 2025 was good but the trend is downward,” Reardon said. “Change was seen most in eastern Maine zones. The other zones remain mostly stable. The 2025 catch was patchy, unpredictable.”

Lobstermen throughout the coast found that the decrease in landings and increase in operating costs made the season challenging. Reardon noted that cooler water, which caused the lobster molt to occur later in the season, did not correspond to higher prices paid at the dock. “This year price did not follow the law of supply and demand,” she said drily.

The number of trips taken by lobstermen in 2025 also trended downward. According to DMR’s Marissa DeCosta, lobstermen took 21,000 fewer fishing trips in 2025. “There was an overall decline in trips, most notably in Zone G through D,” she said. The raw value of the 2025 lobster landings was $461.4 million, comparable to the value of the catch in 2008 when adjusted for inflation. Overall landings were down by 10% and adjusted value was down by 20% compared to 2024.

Heather Glon and Robert Russell reviewed 2025 larval survey and settlement data. DMR has conducted larvae sampling for the past eight years and settlement sampling for the past 26 years. Lobster larvae density in 2025 is down compared to 2024. The number of stage 4 lobster larvae, which have reached the point of settling on the seafloor, is down. Juvenile settlement numbers are also down across the coast after two years of increase. Glon noted however that there is no consistency in recent patterns to suggest a boom-and-bust cycle.

The fall and spring nearshore trawl survey data showed a general decline in sub-legal lobsters in all areas except Penobscot Bay, according to Robyn Linner. There are regional differences in the lobster fishery between the eastern and western sections of the coast in that the western region (Zones E, F and G) did not experience the sharp uptick in landings followed by a drop, as occurred in the eastern region (Zones A, B, C and D). The spring survey conducted 104 tows during the survey period; the fall survey conducted 82.

Kristyn Klemen reviewed ventless trap data, which gives information about sublegal lobster abundance. Federal areas 511 (eastern Maine) and 512 (midcoast Maine) saw an increase in sublegals while the number of sublegals in area 513 (western Maine) declined after three years of increase.

Sea sampling data showed a slight drop in sublegal lobsters throughout the coast. Eastern zones saw a drop from peak numbers; western zones are stable with only a slight decline from 2024. Sea sampling occurs year-round. In 2025, samplers took part in 200 fishing trips aboard 166 boats from 56 ports last year, measuring nearly 300,000 lobsters.

The Fishery Direct Data Program is a new collaborative research program begun by DMR in 2025 in response to a request from lobstermen to collect more data from the offshore fishery. Offshore lobstermen provide information about the size of lobsters caught in federal waters year-round from a pairing of commercial and ventless traps. According to program coordinator Peter Jordan, eight lobstermen took part in the program last year, recording data from 298 trips on a Commercial Fisheries Research app. Participants commit 3 to 5 hours per month and receive compensation for their time.

The Vessel Tracking Program, which started in 2023, compiles trip data to quantify effort in the lobster fishery. All data goes to the ASCCP data warehouse, where a computer model categorizes when the boat was setting, hauling or transiting. The model then can show where fishing effort is concentrated by season. Maine vessels accounted for 69% of the vessel hours in 2024 and 62% in 2025.

Sarah Leiter, head of DMR’s Marine Mammal Research Division, spoke about the department’s efforts to track right whales. The division was created in 2023 and has 27 full-time staff. It conducts a passive acoustic monitoring program, visual surveys and habitat monitoring for right whales. Passive acoustic monitoring buoys are located at 26 sites along the coast. Aerial surveys and boat-based visual surveys for whales take place throughout the year. Habitat monitoring involves quarterly plankton tows to identify right whale food.

“The aggregation of right whales in Jeffrey’s last year means that continuous monitoring is important,” Leiter said. Last January 96 right whales congregated in Jeffreys Basin. Leiter emphasized that no one survey program can give definitive data about the presence of right whales in the Gulf of Maine, but the surveys’ combined data is providing powerful information for use by policy makers.

This presentation is available online at https://mainefishermensforum.org/wp-content/uploads/DMR-Lobster-Science-Update-3.6.26l.pdf.