Steaming Ahead | September 2026

Every lobstering season has its own rhythm. Some years start early. Some are late. Some parts of the coast see strong fishing while others struggle. This year is no different. Depending on where you fish — east or west, inshore or offshore — your season very likely looks very different from someone else’s.

Some lobstermen are seeing decent landings. Others are not. Everyone is hoping for a strong fall and everyone is really hoping for a strong boat price.

C. Clegg photo.

The lobster resource is healthy, but the business of lobstering is under enormous pressure. That distinction matters. We are not looking at a resource that is overfished. We are looking at a fishery where the old business model is cracking at the seams.

For more than 30 years, landings steadily climbed, which may have covered up a lot of problems. When the boat price was low, volume helped make up the difference. When bait, fuel, rope, traps, insurance, repairs, and labor got more expensive, more landings helped keep businesses afloat. When things got tight, the answer was simply to catch a little more, haul a little harder, fish a little longer, and you’ll make it through for another year.

That strategy worked for a long time because the resource supported it. The dramatic increase in landings carried the fishery through periods of low prices and rising expenses.

But things are different now.

The resource has peaked. That does not mean the lobster fishery is unhealthy but it does mean that lobstermen can no longer count on steadily increasing landings to solve every problem. The days of assuming you can always catch more to make up for a weak price or higher costs appear to be behind us.

That is a fundamental change.

At the same time, the cost of running a lobster business has increased sharply. Expenses are at an all-time high with no real relief in sight. The cost of everything has gone up. Even interest rates are higher than they were a few years ago.

As if that wasn’t enough, markets are unstable. Unpredictable federal trade policies and inflation affect restaurants, retailers, processors, dealers, and families buying seafood at the market. Those pressures get passed through the supply chain. Lobstermen feel it at the dock, with very little ability to control what happens next. Bottom line — the price lobstermen receive is not keeping pace with what it takes to stay profitable.

So what do we do? The answer cannot come from one person, one organization, or one part of the coast. Lobstermen have to weigh in — and not in a way that says ‘F*** it’ to every new idea, but in a way that accepts that things need to change if we are going to save our lobstering heritage.

Each zone, each harbor, and each business likely sees the problem differently. The right answer for a small inshore operation may not be the right answer for a larger offshore boat. The right answer in eastern Maine may not be the right answer in southern Maine.

We need to start having a conversation about where can we make a difference.

You cannot control Mother Nature. You cannot make the water colder or warmer. You cannot control where lobster settle, how fast they grow, or whether the fall run shows up when you need it. But you can look at how the lobster fishery is managed and look for opportunities that improve the odds of maintaining a stable resource over time.

That means looking with clear eyes at the tools we have. It means asking whether current rules still fit current conditions. It means thinking about how to keep the resource stable over the long-term without creating unnecessary hardship. It means being willing to talk about difficult issues before a crisis forces that conversation on us.

Maine lobstermen have always led on conservation. V-notching, minimum and maximum sizes, escape vents, trap limits, limited entry, owner-operator rules, and zone management were all built around the idea that the people closest to the resource should have a direct voice in protecting it. That same leadership is needed now.

But the real work may lie with how we run our businesses.

You cannot control the economy or the price you are going to get paid for your lobster, but you can control how you run your business. Every lobsterman has to look hard at their operation and ask what still works and what does not.

Are you fishing in a way that matches the price the current market trends? Are your overhead and operating costs balanced with your realistic potential to land lobster? Your boat size, number of crew, how you fish your traps, how many traps you fish all feed into this equation.

These are not easy questions. Lobstering is not just a job — this business is also a way of life, a family legacy, and a part of who you are. Decisions about boats, crew, traps, and debt are deeply personal. But avoiding the questions will not make the pressure go away.

The fishery is changing. The economics are changing. The cost structure is changing. And if the old strategy was to catch more whenever things got tight, then we need to recognize that strategy may no longer be enough.

That does not mean the future is bleak. The resource is strong and the product is premium. The reputation of Maine lobster remains powerful. The Maine lobster fishery is still one of the best-managed fisheries in the world. Lobstermen are resilient, practical, and used to solving problems.

But resilience does not mean doing the same thing forever and hoping it works out. Resilience means adapting before the seams split wide open.

The MLA’s job is to make sure lobstermen have a voice in the conversations that will shape the future of this fishery. As this season continues, we are all hoping for a strong fall and a strong price. I hope every lobsterman sees both. But hope is not a business plan. The changes we are seeing are real, and the discussions ahead will not be easy. They are necessary.

The Maine lobster fishery is healthy. Now we have to make sure the businesses built around it can be healthy too.