Steaming Ahead | October 2025

This lobster season is shaping up to be a stressful one. We may be facing the dreaded double whammy – slow landings and sluggish prices. With colder waters in the Gulf of Maine, the pace of the fishery has shifted back to what was once considered normal decades ago: a slow, steady stream of lobsters through summer, with hopes pinned on a strong fall. Yet in today’s post-COVID world, costs remain high, and this year has also brought uncertainty related to tariffs and trade policy.

The season might not look good at the moment, but the work goes on. H. Thompson photo.

As with any lobster season, it’s not over until it’s over. But as more days and weeks pass without a major uptick in landings, it grows harder to stay optimistic. Prices have bounced around, and most agree they haven’t been strong enough to ease worries about this season’s outcome.

It’s no longer enough to just go fishing. Lobstermen need a business plan, a clear sense of when the boat is making money — or not — and, as always, a little luck.

On the good news side, we’ve had a break from the constant threat of being regulated out of business to save right whales or to make room for offshore wind farms. On the whale front, National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) won’t reconvene the Take Reduction Team until next year, with new rules slated for 2028. And while offshore leases still exist in the Gulf of Maine, the Trump Administration has made it clear nothing will move forward under its watch.

With all this stress, I want you to know the MLA is working day after day to secure a robust future for Maine’s lobster fishery. For more than 70 years, MLA’s nonpartisan, across-the-aisle approach has produced major victories that have defined and defended our fishery:

• In the 1960s, MLA and our delegation stopped oil refineries from being built off Downeast Maine.

• In the 1970s, we helped pass the Sternman Act, changing tax law to keep lobstermen in business.

• In the 1980s, we secured the Mitchell Provision of the Magnuson Act, which prohibited the import of undersize lobsters.

• In the 1990s, we limited dragger bycatch of lobster.

Today, the MLA leads the lobster industry’s efforts to save Maine’s lobster industry. The MLA was proud to be a part of the effort that led to Congressional action in 2022 to pause new whale rules that included massive closures, trap reductions and removal of buoy lines, which would have crippled our industry. The MLA’s bold lawsuit against NMFS in 2021 which culminated in MLA’s historic court victory in 2023 proved that NMFS broke the law by relying on worst-case assumptions. That decision set the record straight on how agencies must apply the Endangered Species Act.

These wins would not have been possible without the MLA – our board, our members, and MLA’s grassroots supporters in our fishing communities.

Representing a fishery where ten lobstermen are likely to give ten different answers is never easy. That’s why MLA focuses on the issues that unite us: our pride in the fishery, our stewardship ethic, loyalty to our communities, and a fierce commitment to passing these traditions on to the next generation.

In a world where people are conditioned to react to everything in the moment, the MLA leans into its maturity and discipline to ensure that its work sustains our core values. The MLA will not settle for a future where our children and future generations are denied the opportunity to become part of Maine’s proud lobstering tradition.

As the saying goes, “The only constant in life is change.” Our world is changing at a rapid pace and the MLA will continue to adapt and change with the times without sacrificing the things that matter most. The challenges ahead are real. But the MLA will continue to play the long game, using our experience, legal expertise, and institutional knowledge to deliver results that matter. We will keep pushing for accountability, for conservation plans grounded in science, and for policies that protect both lobstermen and the lobster resource.

Be a part of the MLA. If you are not currently a member, I invite you to join us today at mainelobstermen.org or by calling 207-967-4555.

As always, stay safe on the water.