Lobster

Coastal Harpswell
Lobster

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9/2/09: Turning shedders into more profitable hard shell lobsters
For members of a lobster co-operative in eastern Maine to decide to build a refrigerated tank house in the midst of a worldwide recession takes tremendous courage.
But that is precisely what the 32 members of the Winter Harbor Lobster Co-operative, Inc. did. Their system will be able to hold 23,000 pounds of lobster for either short or long-term. It will also keep lobster from molting, thus providing the customer with consistent hard shell product year round.
7/3/09: Long View: Local food; local energy
Lately when people ask about the biggest challenges facing Maine islands and working waterfront communities, two questions loom over all others: what will the price of lobsters be and what will energy cost? The prices for lobsters and energy will likely determine whether islands can survive as viable year-round communities and the trends suggest that we are on a collision course with reality.
6/13/09: All About Maine Lobster
All About Maine Lobster {trivia about lobststers
Lobsters are truly fascinating creatures. In addition to being delicious and healthy delicacies, Maine lobsters are the heaviest marine crustaceans in the world. There is something you can brag about eating. Here is some of the facts, fiction, and interesting tidbits about Main lobsters. Just in case you need some conversation starters while enjoying a fabulous lobster meal.
2/16/09: Guide to Lobstering in Maine
From the Depaartment of Marine Resources, Introduction, The History of Lobstering, The Biology of the Lobster, Maine Lobster Management, Noncommercial Lobster/Crab Harvesters, Lobster Laws and Regulations
2/1/09: Notes from a lobster fishing village
This blog is about life in a Maine lobster fishing village and lobster in general.
12/22/08: the Maine Lobster Council
You've reached the official website of the Maine Lobster Council, and have we got delicious lobster recipes, lobster cooking tips and dozens of sources of Maine lobster for you!
Delicious Because It's Wild Maine Lobster. The Maine coast is an ideal habitat for the world's finest lobsters, offering cold clean water, a rocky coast and an abundant diet of crabs, mussels, sea urchins, clams and other ocean delicacies. Learn about lobsters.
7/5/08: Lobster Biology Studies Rooted In 19th Century
BLUE HILL — Modern scientists who try to understand the biology of the mysterious lobster owe a heavy debt to the work of a scientist who died more than 60 years ago and who did his most of his lobster research more than a century ago.
According to J. Stanley Cobb, a professor emeritus at the University of Rhode Island and himself a noted lobster biologist, many of the ideas on which modern lobster science and management are based can be traced to the work of Francis Hobart Herrick. The first professor of biology at what is now Case Western Reserve University, Herrick published his definitive work on lobsters in 1895.
6/30/06 Ask the Lobster Doc
A series of articles about lobster handling and behavior
The Lobster Conservancy
Diane Cowen and others in Friendship, Maine.
Lobster Institute, lobster, lobster research, lobster biology, lobster products, lobster recipes
WHOI Sea Grant Strategic Plan-Examples-Lobster Research
10/8/05 Town Shaken by Lobster Theft
HARPSWELL, Maine -- During the weeks that a gang of thieves prowled this foggy old fishing village -- turning it into a place with floodlights on its wharves, watchmen in its bushes, and outboard-powered posses in its coves -- two things became obvious.
8/9/05 Lobster Boom and Bust - New York Times

When marine biologists think about lobsters, here is what they want to know: Why are there so many of them, and why are there so few? (NY Times requires free registration)
8/9/05 From Larva to Lobster to the Lobster Pot - New York Time

When a lobster egg hatches, it produces a larva that molts three times in the next 10 to 20 days. Unlike adult lobsters, which do not really swim, larvae are free swimming. Eventually, if they do not end up as fish food, they finally molt a fourth time and turn into something that looks like a lobster but is less than an inch long. (NY Times requires free registration)
8/9/05 In Lobster Courtship, Traits Like Humans - New York Times

People who study animal behavior try not to describe their research subjects in human terms, but that is hard to avoid when it comes to lobsters. (NY Times requires free registration)
3/11/05 The New York Times Science Yes, It's a Lobster, and Yes, It's Blue
(reg required) One lobster in a million is blue, and the reason is not that it has been holding its breath.
A combination of red and blue pigments in the shell of a live lobster creates a mottled camouflage of indeterminate hue that blends in with the ocean floor.
12/8/04 Gulf of Maine Aquarium All About Lobsters
8/10/04 AVC Lobster Science Centre
Atlantic Veterinary College (University of Prince Edward Island) Lobster Science Centre
4/5/04 Telegraph News How solution to lobster row led to lasting peace
Is a lobster a fish? The solution to this arcane question in 1904 was the foundation of the Entente Cordiale between Britain and France and, ultimately, of their military alliance through two world wars.

News
Maine today (Portland Press Herald, etc. appears to require registration now 11/13/05.)

12/08/09: Lobsters to Be Supersized by Climate Change?
Attention lobster lovers—climate change may supersize your favorite seafood.
So says a new study showing that more acidic oceans, a consequence of rising atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels, can produce jumbo-size shelled marine species, including lobsters, crabs, and shrimp. It's unknown whether the animals' body mass also gets beefier along with their shells. (Learn about greenhouse gases.)
But it's not good news for all sea creatures. In the experiment, other species—including oysters, scallops, and clams—suffered in more acidic waters because they had more trouble building their shells.
9/3/09: Tenants Harbor lobstermen take part in trap density study
At first, Tenants Harbor fishermen resisted the idea of removing lobster traps from two fertile fishing grounds. But multiple meetings and a better understanding of the purpose of a trap density experiment led to what may be a revealing study, sponsors say.
7/25/09: Maine lobsterman gambles with eels instead of shellfish
Frank Thompson, a high-line, fifth-generation lobsterman from Vinalhaven, Maine, brought his 3-year-old Cadillac of a lobster boat, Freedom, and its crew — son Murray Thompson, 27, and Bob Jackomino, 43, both from Vinalhaven — to Gloucester last May to trap slime eels rather than lobsters. Why did the 53-year-old senior Thompson make this choice, and has it been a good one?
7/5/09: Not one, but two rare orange lobsters surface; Odds are — or were — one in 30 million
They might not be red, white and blue, but two orange crustaceans at a Route 1 lobster pound are causing a stir this Fourth of July weekend.
Jeremy Mirick, co-owner of the pound at the York Fitness Center, has two orange lobsters in the tank.
The female, which earned the moniker "Orangina" when it came in on Friday, June 26, and the male, which arrived the next day and is unnamed, look as though they just emerged from a steamer pot. But they're definitely alive and kicking.
5-18-09: Island life, endangered
Lobstering limits, high costs plague Monhegan
MONHEGAN ISLAND, Maine - A few of the signs tacked inside The Monhegan Store, where the no-frills shelves are beginning to fill up for tourist season, tell early risers how to use the waffle maker, how to brew a batch of coffee, and where to scribble one's purchases in the absence of the proprietor.
5-7-09: Lobster population strong in Gulf of Maine
PORTLAND, Maine —The lobster population is at an all-time high off the Maine coast but is faring poorly in southern New England, according to a new report.
The stock assessment mirrors what lobstermen have seen in recent years: strong and steady harvests in Maine and declining harvests in the waters south of Massachusetts.
3/30/09 Lobster fishermen confer in Canada
SAINT JOHN, New Brunswick — They may have different regulations, different seasons and even different types of catch, but that doesn’t mean lobstermen in the United States and Canada don’t have a lot in common.
Global economic and environmental concerns affect lobstermen in both countries, participants at a cross-border lobster industry forum agreed Friday. To address these global concerns, there may be things lobstermen in New England and in Atlantic Canada can do together to boost the long-term economic and environmental viability of their industry.
1/8/09 Lobster prices rebound
But many fishermen had already pulled their traps from the water, so few are able to take advantage.
A fisherman holds a lobster Wednesday at Cundy’s Harbor in Harpswell. After plunging last fall, the price of lobster has recently risen sharply.
Lobster prices are rising after months in the tank, but with poor weather conditions and much of their fishing gear pulled from the water, not many fishermen are reaping the rewards.
The price increase is simply a result of supply and demand, said Matt McAleney at New Meadows Lobster, a lobster dealer in Portland.
Lobster problem rooted in global economic crisis
Much has been reported over the past couple of months about the dire circumstances surrounding the Maine lobster industry. Boats prices are at record lows, the demand for both live and processed lobster is soft, and expenses relative to the harvesting and transportation of product are up.
While the state's action to acknowledge the current conditions and create a forum for discussion is admirable, we need to be sensitive to the fact that this is an economic and market crisis, not a resource issue. The state is correct in taking action to provide support and leadership during these times, but they are not equipped or experienced enough in the nuances of the industry to be setting policy and making decisions that may or may not affect the economic status of this industry in a positive manner. Clearly these discussions need to continue, but the one voice that has been conspicuously absent from the table are the major buyers of our resource: the brokers, the domestic and overseas shippers, and the Canadian processors. We need to hear from the businesses that purchase and handle the bulk of this State's lobster harvest and ask them what, if anything, we can do to improve the boat price and margins that support the lobster industry. Who buys our product? What are its limitations? Who are we competing against? Where are the biggest markets? Where are the emerging markets?
12/3/08: Mainers find clever ways to hawk lobster
Times are tough for our many-legged ocean-dwelling friends, Homarus americanus — the American lobster. But times are even tougher for our two-legged, dock-dwelling friends, Traphaulinus mainerus — the Maine lobsterman. Increased fuel and bait prices, decreased consumer demand in the wake of the sinking economy, and tougher regulations have meant that lobstermen from Cape Elizabeth to Castine have seen their income shrink.
But we’re Mainers, and we stick together to help our own — which is why some enterprising individuals around the state have come up with some new ways to market the beloved crustacean.
11/14/08: Trouble at sea
Lobstermen in Maine face increasing hardships as the industry sinks with the economy
November 14, 2008
LOST LUXURY: Lobstermen are struggling to deal with the decrease in demand and simultaneous increase in supply that has led lobster’s price to drop to the price of chicken.
John Dennen has a lot of time on his hands. A lobsterman in Harpswell, he is normally busy fishing this time of year. But this fall is different. The price of diesel fuel and bait is much higher than in years past, and the price of lobster is lower than it has ever been.
10/29/08: As Industry Struggles, Lobstermen Have Never Been More Popular
ELLSWORTH — With the price of lobster lower than the Dow Jones average and dealers trying to figure out how to sell tens of thousands of pounds of lobsters and still make a buck, Maine lobstermen may be on their way to joining right whales as a fashionable endangered species.
While there haven’t been any signs of big conservation organizations pitching in, it seems like almost everyone else is trying to come to the rescue of the embattled Maine lobster industry.
The boat price for lobster remains low. While some independent fishermen have been able to get as much as $3.15 per pound from a handful of small dealers, the boat price for most of Maine’s lobstermen remains in the $2.25 to $2.50 range.
10/27/08 Rockland rallies to support state lobster industry
ROCKLAND, Maine — A day after the governor of Maine established a task force to review the sustainability of the state’s lobster industry, Rockland came together to rally the industry on its own.
Lobsterman Ryan Post sold live lobsters for $3.50 a pound from the back of a truck — selling more than 2,000 pounds in less than two hours.
A local restaurant, the Brass Compass, offered lobster rolls at cost and sold 102 during lunch hour, finally running out of lobster.
10/25/08 State, industry gear up to meet lobster crisis
Lobstermen’s worries persist as prices improve slightly
ELLSWORTH, Maine — As the boat prices for lobster inched higher this week, state and industry representatives were trying to put together long- and short-term programs to aid fishermen and the beleaguered lobster industry.
Gov. John Baldacci on Friday signed an executive order establishing a task force on the Economic Sustainability of Maine’s Lobster Industry. The task force will review Maine’s lobster industry and recommend strategies to help maintain its viability.
8/25/08: Man-made chemicals tied to sick lobsters
A Woods Hole scientist believes he may have found a key culprit behind a mysterious disease linked to a dramatic drop in lobster populations from Buzzards Bay to Long Island.
In research conducted this summer, Hans Laufer found that common man-made chemicals used in plastics, detergents and cosmetics had infiltrated the blood and tissue of lobsters, making them more vulnerable to a particularly virulent strain of shell disease.
7/20/08: In the Sound, Reports of Lobster Disease Rise
THE beleaguered lobster industry in Long Island Sound appears to be suffering again this summer, with increased reports of a disfiguring shell disease that is stumping scientists.
Lobster shell burn, or shell rot, is believed to be caused by bacteria eating into the pores in lobsters’ armored exterior, creating ugly pockmarking. The ailment can be fatal but more often is not. Shell disease is, however, harming lobster sales: in recent years, upwards of 30 percent of the catch in some parts of the Sound has been affected by shell disease and sold for less than half the price of healthy lobsters.
6/15/08: Port Clyde fishermen sell shares of catch to public
PORT CLYDE — Using community-supported agriculture as a model, fishermen are selling shares of their catches to restaurants and the public in what is being called the state's first community-supported fisheries venture.
In agriculture, shareholders pay an upfront amount to farmers in return for a portion of the harvest.
In the commercial fishing model, shareholders pay a set amount in return for a share of fresh catches of haddock, cod, flounder, shrimp and other seafood caught by four boats that fish out of Port Clyde, a fishing port in the town of St. George.
10/6/07: What's Killing the Lobsters Of Long Island Sound? - washingtonpost.com
LONG ISLAND SOUND, Conn. -- The trap buoys, orange and white, wink between the waves in this murky estuary, beckoning with the promise of the sweetest of New England's delights: lobster. As plentiful as sardines, they were. So much so that generations of Connecticut lobstermen did bang-up business trolling these waters for big and juicy jewels of the sea.
But not anymore. "Everyone thinks that lobsters only come from Maine, but it isn't so -- we had tons of lobster right here," said Roger Frate Jr., 38, yanking up one of dozens of mostly empty traps, salty and pungent with algae from the depths of western Long Island Sound. "We had great hauls. But now? These waters are a graveyard."
3/23/07: The Ellsworth American. - Lecture to Focus on Maine’s Fragile Coastal Ecosystems
BLUE HILL — Robert Steneck, a professor of marine sciences at the University of Maine, will present “Booms, Busts and Sliding Baselines in Maine’s Fragile Coastal Ecosystems” on Thursday, March 29, at 7 p.m. at the Marine Environmental Research Institute in Blue Hill.
Steneck will talk about how the decline of big predator fish and subsequent rise of prey species has led to an ecological imbalance in the Gulf of Maine that may one day become a true environmental crisis.
9/4/06 Portsmouth Herald Local News: A rare catch
PORTSMOUTH -- Longtime fisherman Billy Marconi didn't hit the jackpot, but he sure beat the odds this week when he caught what's believed to be a rare albino lobster.
8/25/06 For Lobster Industry, a Wary Eye on Warming - August 22, 2006 - The New York Sun
Marine biologist Diane Cowan heads up the Lobster Conservancy, and has studied juvenile lobsters in Maine for fourteen years. (She's especially keen on donning a dry suit in the middle of February, nipping into the frosty waters of her home state, and counting the little guys hiding under rocks. She says the water is clearer at that time of year.) Over about the same period, the Maine lobster catch has grown to 67.3 million pounds in 2005 (valued at $311.6 million) from 28.1 million pounds in 1990 ($61.6 million).
The rapid rise has caused concerns about stock depletion. Astonishingly, in that period Ms. Cowan has witnessed a four-fold increase in the juvenile lobster population in her area. That sounds pretty good, but, according to Ms. Cowan, the increase may only be temporary.
8/4/06 On a Roll, for Lobster - New York Times free registration required
SIGNS scream “Best Lobster Roll in Maine” at lobster shacks and convenience stores all along the Maine Coast. Stop to ask someone where to find the best, and you will frequently get a definitive answer. It just won’t always be the same one.
8/1/06 Lobster: Ending the shell game
Maine lobster is a big draw at Dixie Crossroads seafood restaurant on Florida's east coast.
"Our people seem to prefer the Maine lobster," Laurilee Thompson, an owner of the restaurant, said Monday by telephone. "They definitely have a distinctive taste. The Maine lobster is sweeter."
5/26/06 Watch those lobster tomalleys!
Sometimes the news just makes me scratch my head in wonder. Health Canada has advised citizens this week to limit their consumption of lobster tomalley. That’s the icky green goo found inside the lobster’s body cavity, and probably one of the most unappetizing things you’d ever see on your dinner plate. Apparently adults should limit their consumption of lobster tomalleys to no more than the amount from two lobsters per day; for children the limit is no more than the amount from one lobster per day. The feds say a toxin specific to lobster and shellfish, known as paralytic shellfish poison, can sometimes be found in these lovely green organs.
6/19/06 Demise of grocery-store lobsters renews animal welfare debate | csmonitor.com
ATLANTA – Unceremoniously, Whole Foods Markets, the largest natural-foods chain in the world, pulled its lobsters from their tanks last week and boiled them all. For the influential grocer, it was the final lobster bake.
After an eight-month inquiry, Whole Foods decided that keeping live lobsters in tanks for long periods does not jibe with its stated values promoting the proper care and welfare of food animals.
3/06 Lobstermen’s Measures Help Conserve Supply
Lincoln County News: Part of the reason lobstering is still good on the Maine coast is the lobstermen’s determination to maintain the population through self-imposed measures besides a substantial decline in the cod fish presence, according to long time South Bristol lobsterman Arnie Gamage. He expounded that fact Saturday during a community read at Wiscasset Public Library.
3/28/06 VillageSoup - Sports & Outdoors News - VillageSoup
Report examines threat of 'Roving Bandits' to local fisheries
ORONO (March 25): A recent study published in the journal Science by UMaine researchers and others has identified a growing threat to the health of local fisheries across Maine and around the world: the so-called "roving bandits" of the seas. [except lobster fishermen]
3/22/06 World experts present crustacean research
Commercial fisherman and researcher Ted Ames of Stonington, Maine, gave the keynote presentation, highlighting lobster fishermen’s success building a hatchery. It will begin production in June of this year.
3/19/06 Lively tale of life told through eyes of an old salt
Book Review include description of growing up a fisherman.
3/18/06 Fancy a hairy lobster - World - smh.com.au
I apologize for this since it is not really a lobster, but I was curious...
3/5/06 Fredericksburg.com - Essays are Sharp, thought-provoking
David Foster Wallace's newest collection of essays, "Consider the Lobster," is smart writing for those who are dismayed by our increasingly dumbed-down public discourse. While it's certainly not light reading--Wallace will casually throw out terms like "dysphemism" (the opposite of euphemism; using a more offensive term rather than a less offensive one), it is entertaining, sharp, and often amusing.
The dollar value of reported lobster landings in Maine hit a record high in 2005 despite a decrease in the reported amount of lobsters that were caught, according to preliminary numbers released this week by the state Department of Marine Resources.
3/4/06 Newswise Lobster Research Leads to Product in the Billion-dollar Pet Food Market
Research at the Lobster Institute led to a commercialized product, possibly the first dog biscuit made from lobster meal.
11/3/05 The News@Ellsworth American.com
Disappointing Lobster Landings Are Having Widespread Impact
8/11/05 18-pound lobster put on display at science center - Fosters
RYE — The huge claws seemed to be the main curiosity as visitors stared at the Seacoast Science Center's newest exhibit — an 18-pound lobster.
6/19/05 Fishing village braces for sale of 'empire'
PHIPPSBURG — Thousands of visitors race this time of year along Route 209, to Popham Beach and the better known tourist destinations of Sebasco Estates and Hermit Island. Few will find their way down the road leading to West Point. Those who do venture into West Point will discover something increasingly precious on Maine's southern coast - a historic, working fishing village. Traps are stacked high on docks in early June. Fishing boats bob at their moorings and workers are busy on the lobster wharf.
6/02/05 A Lobster of a Different Color
Calico crustacean said among rarest
5/11/05 Lobstermen Prompt Bill to Limit Pesticide Spraying
ELLSWORTH — A bill crafted at the urging of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association could limit pesticide spraying to control the browntail moth population.
4/20/05 The News@Ellsworth American.com Legislators Propose Hide But No Hair
... While a request for proposals was sent out to the scientific community to conduct some research into the effects of hide bait, Maine lobster biologist Carl ...
4/18/05 Magic City Morning Star Protecting Maine’s Waterways Susan Collins
From Pickerel Pond to Lake Auburn, from Sebago Lake to Bryant Pond, lakes and ponds in Maine are under attack. Aquatic invasive species threaten Maine’s drinking water systems, recreation, wildlife habitat, lakefront real estate, and fisheries. Plants, such as Variable Leaf Milfoil, are crowding out native species. Invasive Asian shore crabs are taking over Southern New England’s tidal pools and have advanced well into Maine -- to the potential detriment of our state’s lobster and clam industries.
4/9/05 Weekend Standard - The Cutting Edge ... Maine course
Note: Great article about the lobster dinner you can get in Kowloon for 560 HK (or $71.86) at the Bostonian
4/9/05 Already hurting R.I. lobsters, shell disease threatens Maine
WASHINGTON -- Rhode Island lobsterman Michael Marchetti has been finding something wrong with the lobsters in his traps since 1998: Many of them have mysterious, ugly scars etched on their shells.
New Whale Protection Rules Up for a Hearing in Ellsworth
ELLSWORTH — National Marine Fisheries Service personnel will be hauling into town Monday evening to gather reaction to a slate of six alternatives for changes to the Large Whale Take Reduction Plan.
03/27/05 Environmental Journal by Peter Lord Fisheries agency seeks comments on new whale rules
During the last year, 17 whales, including 6 highly endangered North Atlantic right whales, became entangled in fishing gear along the East Coast. About 72 percent of the 300 or so right whales in existence bear scars from entanglements.
Now, the National Marine Fisheries Service has concluded several years of studies by proposing modifications to the gear fishermen use offshore.
3/19/05 Local lobstermen get warning from Long Island Sound
ROCKPORT (March 19, 2005): After running a veritable gauntlet of frightening facts and daunting data sets, Maine fishermen and researchers came away from the Fishermen's Forum Lobster Health Symposium March 5 with a wealth of new information and some sobering facts regarding what not to do in Maine.
Community-based Initiatives Making Strides
ROCKPORT — Shoreline access and resource preservation are among the priorities of a growing number of community-based fisheries management efforts under way throughout Downeast Maine.
2/23/05 The News@Ellsworth American.com
ELLSWORTH — Preliminary figures are in for the 2004 Maine lobster catch, and at first glance they look remarkably good for a year that was a bit of a roller coaster ride for fishermen. In short, the recorded catch was 63.1 million pounds; up from 55 million pounds in 2003 and just shy of the record 63.6 million pounds landed in 2002.
ELLSWORTH — The specter of lobster shell disease has loomed large over Maine’s lobster fishery for the past two years. The quick spread of the shell-destroying ailment in southern New England since the late 1990s has been one more source of worry for Maine’s lobstermen.
2/2/05 Lincoln County News Working Waterfront Tax Break Amendment Hangs on Senate Vote
1/26/05 Week in review
After 4,500 years of cod dominating the Gulf of Maine, fishing pressures have triggered two major reorganizations of its ecosystem in the last four decades, according to University of Maine research.
1/18/05 The News@Ellsworth American.com Winter Harbor Sells Off Its Navy Housing
Winter Harbor is one transaction shy of selling all of the 20 homes, 14 duplexes and 32 apartments left vacant when the U.S. Navy left town in June 2002. Only one duplex unit remains unsold.
“That didn’t work out because this is set up with a housing association that includes restrictions and covenants,” Heidinger said. “They include things like you can’t have snowmobiles, four-wheelers, lobster traps or tulip tires in your yard, and most young people aren’t willing to put up with restrictions on how they can use their property.
1/18/05 The News@Ellsworth American.com New Whale Rules Pending
ELLSWORTH — Twenty four endangered northern right whales in the Gulf of Maine led the National Marine Fisheries Service last week to reactivate a so-called Dynamic Area Management (DAM) zone, limiting fishing activity in 1,889 square miles off the Downeast coast.
11/18/04 Recent Strong Catch Tempered By High Bait and Fuel Prices
ELLSWORTH — Lobster is still the biggest money maker of Maine’s coastal fisheries, but that fact has been little consolation for lobstermen buffeted by high bait and fuel prices and uncertain catch rates this year.
11/11/04 Commercial Dragger Fishes for State Data
How this dragger counts lobsters and other species.
11/10/04 The long haul struggles of a lobster town csmonitor.com
The popular crustacean has become even more dominant in the past 15 years, as the number of lobster catches has tripled in Maine's coastal waters. Since then, the notion of an ancient trade of hard-bitten men has given way to a thriving industry that's brought windfalls to the lobster crew.
10/5/04 Castine Store on a Roll -Lobster Sandwich Earns Title As Maine's Favorite
They're stupid, hyper-aggressive, and they turn each other on by urinating out of bladders in their heads. And David Foster Wallace got everything about them wrong.
9/22/04 Activists and fishermen begin whale action
A collaboration between an animal welfare group and fishermen in Massachusetts, launched this week, aims to reduce the threat posed out-dated fishing gear to the endangered North Atlantic right whale, in a pilot scheme that could be replicated worldwide if it proves successful.
9/21/04 Boston.com - News - Local - Mass. - Gearing up to save whales, livelihood
The endangered North Atlantic right whale has virtually no natural enemies, but for 100 years it has found a foe in fishing lines. Nearly three-quarters of these leviathans have scars from getting tangled in fishing gear, and some have died from their wounds.
08/1/04 The Connection.org The Secret Life of Lobsters
If you're a female lobster and you go fanning your swimmerets in the direction of a male, then you'd better mean it. Because before you know it, he'll have you carrying his kids.
And if you're the dominant decapod, take notice: When you shed that hard body, watch your back. Because sooner or later, everything with a claw will be vying to take you out.
It's tough going at the bottom of the ocean. And as the writer Trevor Corson discovered, there's plenty more to know about summer's favorite crustacean than how to cook it.
Note: This is an audio you listen to on your computer.
6/30/04 Atlantic Unbound Interviews 2004.06.30
Americans have been feasting on lobsters for centuries. When the Pilgrims first landed on Plymouth Rock, lobsters were in such abundance on the New England coast that storms often washed hundreds of the creatures onto the beach. Farmers took advantage of the lobster surplus, using excess crustaceans as feed for livestock and fertilizer for their fields. At the time, the ready availability of lobsters rendered them a low-class meal for the poor and unrefined
6/25/04 The News@Ellsworth American.com
New Exhibit Features Lobster Art
6/25/04 BBC NEWS UK England Tyne-Wear Giant lobster's good use of time
A giant lobster thought to be more than 30 years old has been found standing guard over a barnacle-encrusted watch off the Northumberland coast.
6/3/04 Boston.com - News - Local - Mass. - Lessons of a lobster shift
For two years, Trevor Corson lived lobsters. He woke before dawn and worked long days on a lobster boat off the Maine coast. He went to sea with lobster ecologists who studied the tasty crustaceans using submarines and robot lobsters. He pored over hundreds of pages from government reports about lobster population changes. And, yeah, he ate a few, too.
6/3/04 Lobsters have the state of Maine in a pinch csmonitor.com
book review, interesting
5/6/04 projo.com Providence, R.I. AP's The Wire
Marine scientists identify 5,000 lobster genes
3/25 The News@Ellsworth American.com
State Considers Licenses for Non-residents
4/8/04 Nicaraguans Risk Death Diving for Vanishing Lobsters
The $40 million-dollar-a-year lobster industry in Nicaragua is second only to coffee and approximately 90 percent of the catch is exported to U.S. and Canadian restaurants and supermarkets. To meet the huge demand men dive as deep as 130 feet, searching the ocean floor until they've sucked the last breath of air from their tanks. Then often, in a panicked dash, they shoot to the surface.
Note: Obviously these are not Maine Lobsters, but I wonder if the Americans eating know that.

Harpswell Information

Coastal Harpswell Lobster

Coastal Harpswell
Lobster