The York Lobstermen's Association: Small but dedicated!

The York Lobstermen’s Association is a congenial group of lobstermen. Started in the late 1980s by lobsterman Pat White, the Association is currently headed by White’s son, Jeff. “I’m the go-to person that newspapers call when they want to know what’s going on down here,” he laughed. The Association is best known for its yearly clean-up day when members search the area’s beaches and coves to round up broken traps, buoys and other gear. “Then we have a cook-out,” White said.  

The group also manages the York Sustainable Fisheries Fund, the monies of which are raised by local residents interested in the lobster fishery and lobstermen. The Association members decide each year how to disperse the money raised for the Fund. Some of it has gone to scholarships for the children of local lobstermen. Some has gone to pay for safety training classes. Currently Fund money is being used to support a high school biology class where students are learning about green crabs. “They are designing traps for the crabs and setting them. Plus they’ve started a monitoring program on the York River to see what changes are happening there,” White said.  “You have to realize that it’s a lot different down here than in other parts of the coast,” White continued. “We are extremely tight on commercial space.”

He mentioned that the two commercial lobster pounds operating in York in the 1980s have both turned into private residences. He recounted the story of one pound, whose owner wanted to create an apartment above the building. The town said no, and eventually the man closed his business. The property sat vacant for a number of years until a well-to-do individual bought it. “He built a McMansion and actually planted trees and grass on the wharf. Finally, it sold for $3 million or so,” White said.

Still, as White put it, the York Lobstermen’s Association continues to do the best they can with what they have. He worries, however, that history might be repeating itself. “Years ago, Maine was part of Massachusetts. And we became independent. Now Massachusetts is taking us back, one property at a time!”