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American lobster

Dealers say there should still be plenty of live lobsters available this winter, despite reduced summer catches

First, there were new boats, rolling out of yards from Kittery to Eastport. Then there were shiny new pickups and new houses. And now there is a final sign that things are just going too well: Calendars. First bachelor lobstermen, now lobsterwomen.

In Maine, lobster is clearly on a roll. From 1996 to 2000, Down East lobstermen have seen their lobster catches shoot up from about 16,000 metric tons to more than 25,000 metric tons. Over the same period, the ex-vessel value of the state’s lobster haul has soared from $107 million to $187 million. A strong market has kept prices at lofty levels in spite of the climbing catch.

But how long will the good times last? And just where are all these Maine lobsters coming from?

These questions are making the Maine industry, which produced more than two-thirds of the U.S. American lobster catch in 2000, wonder whether its fame and fortune may be a bit fleeting.

Most of Maine’s 6,000 lobstermen and the dealers they sell to attribute the dramatic rise in lobster landings to the collapse of cod stocks in the Gulf of Maine.

“Cod eat lobster. It’s pretty simple,” says one dealer in Jonesport. But fishery biologists don’t buy simple explanations.

One theory is that changes in ocean circulation are delivering lobster larvae to a more favorable habitat. Another explanation is that with so many traps in the waters Down East, fishermen are actually farming lobsters. (By some estimates, almost 3 million traps are fished in Maine waters during the peak summer period.) Small lobsters, which escape from traps through a vent, get plenty of food until they grow large enough to become “keepers.”

Maine’s top lobster biologist says, “There are a lot of theories out there, and the reality is that we don’t know what it is.” He says the bumper catch is “a scientific mystery.”

Maine’s top fisheries commissioner adds, “Everybody asks, ‘Can we keep a 60-million-pound fishery forever?’ No.”

And that would appear to be the case, as low water temperatures this summer have resulted in a late “shedder” run, which could lead to a 10 to 20 percent decline in this year’s Maine landings.

The rosy lobster picture in Maine is a stark contrast to the dire straits of the Long Island Sound lobster industry, where catches have plummeted from an average of 12 million pounds a year to almost nothing. Although there are plenty of theories about what has caused the massive die-off of lobsters, lobstermen from New York and Connecticut say pesticides are the problem.

The lobsters began dying, argue the fishermen, in 1999, when towns around the sound started floating solid cakes of methoprene in their storm drains to kill mosquitoes. The insects can carry the West Nile virus, which can lead to fatal cases of encephalitis. Soon after the scientist who developed methoprene said it also kills crustaceans, Congress approved $10 million in federal funding to figure out what happened to the lobsters. 

Although no one considers Maine’s lobster resource in anywhere near as precarious a position as Long Island Sound’s, the fishery has been under intense scrutiny for years by fisheries managers. In spite of the fact that Maine’s lobster catches rose steadily and doubled between 1990 and 2000, the National Marine Fisheries Service contends the resource is officially “overfished.” The problem, say the biologists, is that 90 percent of the lobsters are harvested before they’ve had a chance to spawn.

The relatively pessimistic outlook by NMFS has caught the eye of environmental groups, some of which have put American lobster on their lists of seafood to eat with caution. Fortunately for the lobster industry, American and European consumers apparently could care less whether lobsters are overfished. 

Still, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, which regulates fisheries in state waters, is putting new regulations in place that biologists say are needed to ensure the long-term health of the resource. It’s become a bitter battle fought one-sixteenth of an inch at a time.

Although the ASMFC has been pushing for a minimum carapace length of 3 1/2 inches since 1978, some states argue that their own lobster-fishing regulations are just fine, thank you, and see no reason to change. Lobstermen in Maine, where the minimum carapace length is 3 1/4 inches, argue that lobsters don’t breed until they reach 4 inches, so raising the carapace length is pointless.

Mainers note that their state prohibits the keeping of lobsters with a carapace of 5 inches or more, which provides plenty of breeding stock. The ASMFC would be better off convincing states like Massachusetts and New Hampshire, where there is no maximum size limit, to pass regulations protecting breeding lobsters, they say.

The ASMFC is also trying to get states to increase the size of their vents, the escape ports required in lobster traps. Although the proposed increase is only a sixteenth of an inch, a lot of lobstermen are not buying it. That extra fraction of an inch, they argue, is just enough to allow keepers to escape.

Meanwhile, in Rhode Island, where it’s legal for groundfish draggers to keep any lobster they happen to catch in their nets, the draggers are angry that the ASMFC wants to limit them to a catch of 100 lobsters a day, or 500 per trip.

Whatever lobster plan the fishery managers finally develop — which could be this year — the only thing for sure is that it will lead to endless hours of arguments.

North of the border, there are a lot of arguments about lobster, too, just not about the condition of the resource. In the past decade, Canadian lobster landings have been remarkably steady, fluctuating between 40,000 and 44,000 metric tons annually.

What’s got the Canadians in an uproar is the contention by a growing number of Indian bands, led by the Mi’kmaq Indians in New Brunswick, that the federal government can’t tell them when, where or how to fish for lobster.

In addition to the traditional spring fishery, the Mi’kmaqs started their own fishery in the fall, when the lobsters are spawning and relatively easy to catch on Miramichi Bay, a major fishing ground on New Brunswick’s northeast coast.

Last fall, enforcement officers in Canada, worried about the effect of the unauthorized fishery, seized almost 4,000 traps from the native band, and the situation turned violent when the Indians blocked a busy highway in protest.

Despite some very attractive financial carrots from Ottawa, the Mi’kmaqs weren’t biting and vowed to battle for their right to fish lobsters in the fall. This September, enforcement officers again seized traps. Although the bay’s lobsters caught are fewer than 10 percent of Canada’s total, if the Mi’kmaqs prevail, it could dramatically alter the balance of power in Canada’s lobster fishery.

That’s a sour prospect for Canada’s lobster processors. One reason prices have remained high in the face of steadily rising U.S. production is that Canadian lobster processors and a few Maine companies developed new markets for frozen lobster, taking pressure off the live market. Since 1995, U.S. imports of frozen Canadian lobster, mostly tails, rose from about 3,000 metric tons to 7,500 metric tons. 

Over the same period, U.S. exports of live lobster, mostly softshells from the Maine summer run, have grown from about 8,000 metric tons to almost 17,000 metric tons.

But while they’re processing a lot more frozen lobster, the Canadians complain they haven’t been making any money at it.

“We’re our own worst enemy. We have too much processing capacity, and we always pay too much for the raw material,” says one lobster processor in Prince Edward Island.

Adding to the processors’ problem that the live price dictates the market, and live prices have been high in recent years, ironically due to the success of Canada’s processors.

But Canadian processors say it’s their turn to make some money. This summer, in an effort to tilt the scales in their favor, 16 of Canada’s leading lobster processors formed a buying cooperative to establish a fixed purchase price, set  initially at $3.25 a pound.

“They call it a cooperative, but in this country our government would call it price fixing,” says one Maine lobster dealer.   

However, for now, greater market dynamics are at work. Because of Maine’s poor summer harvest, the live market kept boat prices relatively high, and some processors bought cautiously because they still had plenty of product left over.

Live-lobster dealers also complained they were paying too much for lobsters this summer and getting squeezed as a result.

“The problem in this business is, there are no barriers to entry,” says one large Nova Scotia buyer. “If you have a pickup and a checkbook, you’re in business. And if one guy pays a quarter more, we all chase him. There’s more cooperation among fishermen.”

Supply outlook

Despite the slow start to Maine’s summer shedder run, even if catches come in at 15 percent below last year’s 57 million pounds, it would still be the third-largest harvest.

In the long term, biologists seem confident that the huge surge in Maine landings has peaked, and catches will return to the 25-million to 35-million-pound range.

Lobster catches from Massachusetts, the second-leading state, have been remarkably stable the past 10 years, fluctuating between 13 million and 16 million pounds. One reason is a state reduction in lobster licenses. Fishing in Massachusetts was reportedly also off to a slower than normal start, likely to lead to a slight decline in 2001 landings.

The situation in Long Island Sound remains bleak. Catches plummeted below 3 million pounds, showing no signs of recovery.

Lobster harvests in Canada should come in about the same as last year, say Department of Fisheries and Oceans biologists. Catches from the spring Gulf of St. Lawrence fishery, which accounts for about 40 percent of Canada’s total lobster production, were the same, and although the fall fishery was off to a slow start, catches picked up in September. 

Despite the decline in lobster landings this summer, there’s no shortage of frozen lobster, say processors. Demand in Japan remains soft, and there’s still plenty of carryover inventory from last summer in the freezers.

Lobster dealers say there should still be plenty of live lobsters available this winter in spite of the reduced summer catches.

 “Demand has gone soft everywhere,” says one of Canada’s largest shippers. “I don’t remember when all the major markets – Europe, Japan and North America – have all been soft at the same time.”    

Price outlook

A slowing economy and relatively dull demand have kept a lid on lobster prices. This August, the average Boston wholesale price for 1 1/4-pound hardshells was about $6.50 a pound, about the same as last year. In some cases, the price has actually softened. Large 2-pound lobsters that were selling for $7.50 a pound last summer brought just $6.75 a pound this summer.

The price of soft- or “new”-shell lobsters softened in August, once the run finally hit. Prices to the boats were about $2.75 to $3.25 a pound at the peak of the run, about the same as last year,  but buyers complained that the quality was poor and that a lot of the lobsters were not shippable.

Newshells that were good enough to make it to Boston were being sold to distributors for $4 to $5 a pound, depending on size.

Going into the winter and the critical holiday season, prices should be slightly lower than last year. The euro has weakened against the Canadian dollar, which will put pressure on lobster dealers to reduce their prices for European buyers. Look for dealers to be selling 1 1/4-pound lobsters in the $4.50 to $5 a pound range, f.o.b. Boston, most of this winter and spring.

In spite of the smaller summer production, the price of lobster tails has softened along with the economy. Prices to distributors for 3- to 4-ounce tails were down to an average of $13 a pound, f.o.b. Boston, this September, a decline of about 50 cents a pound from where they were the previous year. As a result, PEI processors lowered their price to fishermen by about 30 cents a pound for the fall fishery.

Tail prices could decline another 25 cents a pound this winter, although demand from foodservice operators looking for a less expensive option to spiny tails should prevent a significant price decline.

Buying tips 

There were a lot of complaints about the low meat yield of the shedder run this year in Maine, especially in product from midcoast and southern Maine. If you’re buying frozen tails, be extra careful to sample your shipments regularly to avoid any unpleasant surprises. Tails processed later in the summer should be of better quality, so be sure to get a pack date from your processor.

Live lobsters prices vary only slightly from supplier to supplier, but greatly with the time of year. Look for the best buys in September, after demand from summer resorts falls, and in May and June, when the Gulf of St. Lawrence fishery is in full swing. Although prices aren’t as low, you can still make some relatively good buys in late November, right after the Bay of Fundy opens, and again in late December, after the Europeans’ Christmas buying spree is over.

When buying live lobster, make sure you have firm dead-loss minimums set with your supplier. Most suppliers require buyers to eat a certain percentage of dead loss (usually 5 percent or less). It can make a big difference in what you actually pay.

Culinary notes

Although a lot of chefs tend to go overboard with lobster in an attempt to justify $30 entrées, the trick with lobster is to keep it pretty simple. Even Jasper White, a Boston culinary heavyweight and the author of “Lobster at Home,” features some basic preparations in his popular cookbook. White’s Lobster Salad, for example, is nothing more than lobster meat, cucumbers, mayonnaise, scallions, salt and pepper.

Still, there are plenty of things you can do with lobsters beyond serving them steamed with melted butter.  Try grilling lobster, for example. The Water’s Edge restaurant on Long Island serves grilled Maine lobster with an herb butter and a rice pilaf.

Meanwhile, in the Big Apple, celebrity chef Bobby Flay at the Mesa Grill offers Grilled Lobster Smothered in Basil Butter.  

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