Maine: The Best Lobster Regs?

Continued from August 2019 Homepage

A 1 1/2 lb. lobster and an old large 15 lb. male lobster. A female would have smaller claws and a larger abdomen (tail). Diane Cowan photo.

lobster fishery. Big old lobsters - the proven survivors who pass on proven genes, spread those good genes around, produce larger more viable offspring and travel further to disperse their offspring. For them to meet their end lying on Styrofoam, wrapped in plastic and displayed at Costco is wrong. Who is selling these lobsters to Costco?

It didn’t seem possible that the giant Costco/Today Show old large lobster could be from Maine, because Maine harvesters have good conservation laws and a strong conservation ethic. But the rules that apply to the traditional lobster trap fishery are not the only lobster rules in Maine. Oversized lobsters cannot be harvested or landed in Maine.

But – and this is a big but – Maine lobster processors are allowed to buy lobsters from anywhere caught by any means as long as it is legal for those lobsters to have been harvested in a way that is legal in the place of harvest.

This means that even though lobsters captured in bottom trawl gear cannot be harvested in Maine state waters or landed in Maine, those lobsters can be processed here. It also means that “oversized” lobsters from offshore and Canada, that can’t be landed here, are in fact processed here. There’s something wrong about that.

In this first contribution to Fishermen’s Voice I wanted to write something to bolster the pride and ethics of the good old Maine lobster industry. I thought I had something and I do. There is so much that is good and true in the traditional Maine lobster fishermen’s conservation ethic. But recently it has been eroded and I suspect that others will be just as furious about what’s going on as I am.

Old large egger (gravid) female lobster. Large (oversized in Maine) lobster can produce hundreds of thousands of larger and high value eggs compared to a few thousand eggs on smaller legal sized lobster. Diane Cowan photo.

The real crime is that lobsters with claws as big as the Costco/Today Show lobster are being harvested at all. Big claws belong to big male lobsters. Large females have larger midsections and produce hundreds of thousands of eggs that are also larger and more robust than those of smaller lobster. Lobster fecundity increases with body size. Traits possessed by long-lived large lobsters lead to superior breeding.

Large big-clawed males along with large broad-abdomen (“tail”) female lobsters represent our best hope for the long-term sustainability of the lobster fishery. Not only should these lobster not be landed at all, they should not be allowed to be taken by fishing gear that destroys the bottom habitat where they live. Destructive harvest by dragger is precisely how a lot of old large breeder lobsters are taken.

Attempts have been made in the Maine legislature to allow the landing of dragged lobster in Maine. Displaced ground fishermen may be in favor of this, but it would be at the expense of the greater good of the premier Maine lobster fishery. The Portland Fish Exchange would benefit, but at the expense of the well managed and sustainably harvested Lobster fishery. Legally allowing dragged lobster to be landed in Maine would encourage the targeting of lobster habitat by draggers. A practice that is already a problem.

It’s time to recognize that any taking, handling, buying and selling of oversized lobsters by any means is a threat to the lobster fishery. Universal adoption of Maine’s lobster rules for harvest would counter this threat. Universal means the US & Canada. Universal also means the current Maine rules harvesters follow would be followed also by dealers, processors, Costco, and anyone else who comes in commercial contact with American lobster. Sadly, that will likely require a miracle.

Too bad, because universal rules that work and have teeth would give the lobster industry its best chance for long-term success. It would also make it a lot easier to understand and enforce the rules. It isn’t that Maine’s rules for lobster harvest are the best possible, but they have worked well so far and are the best we have. However, if everyone else fails to adopt them and if Maine continues its recent attempts to erode its good rules, that will undermine the strength of the resource.

If we can’t get all of Maine’s good conservation rules for harvest adopted. Then at least aim for the top five rules. Maine state waters allow lobster to be harvested:
(1) only by trap because lobsters have a choice of whether to climb into and remain in a trap and hauling trap gear has minimal negative impact on bottom habitat;
(2) only owner/operator because that increases the probability of the person fishing caring about things like the lobster and its habitat;
(3) maximum size limit, because the big old fat lobsters are proven survivors who will pass on proven genes, spread those good genes around, produce larger and more viable offspring, travel further to disperse those offspring; they’re also better at finding suitable water temperatures, and much more;
(4) no taking of gravid lobsters (eggers); because they are expectant mothers and we want to give the mother and babies a chance to live.
(5) minimum legal size limit – to protect juveniles.

The following table compares how these top five conservation rules measure up in Maine, the rest of the US, and Canada.

1. Trap only for capture and landing gets a “YES” for both Maine and Canada. That means no taking of lobsters by hand, no taking of lobsters in fixed gear such as gill nets, and, most importantly, no taking of lobster by bottom trawling (i.e., using gear that is dragged across the bottom).

Other United States gets a “NO” for allowing lobsters to be taken and/or landed by just about any means, but worst of all by dragging the sea floor using bottom trawl gear.

2. Owner/operator for both place of capture and landing gets a “YES” only in Maine.

That’s too bad not only because harvesters who own their business have a personal stake in what happens to the industry, but also because small, privately owned boats support coastal communities, sustain an age-old sprawling working waterfront and individuals that partake in the traditional owner/operator lobster trap fishery are engaged in more interesting jobs than those who are locked away in a processing plants gutting oversized lobsters to serve big business.

3. Maximum allowable size for both landing and possession gets a “NO” in Maine, all other United States, and Canada.

Maine, the Other United States and Canada all get a “NO.” What’s going on here?

Maine gets a “NO” because Maine processors buy and sell oversized lobsters captured and landed in Canada and the other United States.

The other United States get a “NO” because federal permits allow a larger maximum size limit and bottom trawl fishing vessels are allowed to land “bycatch” oversized lobster without a lobster license anywhere except in Maine.

Canada gets a “NO” because most of Canada has no maximum legal size limit for harvest. In other words, lobsters greater than the minimum legal size up to infinity are legal to capture.

Currently, the big problem with Maine rules is that Maine lobster processors are allowed to buy lobsters from anywhere caught by any means as long as it is legal for those lobsters to have been harvested in a way that is legal in the place of harvest. Therefore, even though lobsters captured in bottom trawl gear cannot be harvested in Maine state waters or landed in Maine, those lobsters can be processed here. It means that “oversized” lobsters from offshore and Canada that can’t be landed here are processed here.

If we want to continue harvesting lobsters in Maine for the long haul, then we need to close up a few loop holes in the maximum legal size rule.

It would be difficult to change the federal law that allows the harvest of these productive and essential large animals. But each state (or even town) that allows the harvest and/or marketing of large lobsters could change its laws. Louisiana, Ohio, Baton Rouge, South Dakota, East Texas, Rhode Island, and South Carolina could adopt Maine’s lobster rules thereby eliminating markets for old large breeders.

How to approach Canada? Start with owner/operator. Convince Canada that even if they didn’t go along with adopting Maine rules they should at least adopt the “maximum gauge” for everyone. This would be an improvement, but is not necessary to eliminate buying oversized from Canada. Maine harvesting rules don’t allow possession of oversized lobsters.

In addition to being the right thing to do, it would be much simpler to have Maine lobster harvesting laws universal. I stand by my original goal of furthering Maine harvesting rules. That would end Costco/Today Show old large lobster, improve sustainability and make regulations easier to understand.

Keep big lobsters alive to roam the sea floor because big lobsters won’t survive big business, big corporate fishing and/or big markets. Old large lobsters will help to sustain the owner/operator traditional lobster trap fishery.

The Lobster Conservancy’s field work began in Harpswell in 1992, grew into the Lobster Conservancy in 1997, and moved to Friendship in 1999. The Lobster Conservancy’s mission is to “strive to sustain a thriving traditional lobster trap fishery through science and community.” Its community-based science has improved knowledge of basic biological and ecological needs of the lobster. The Conservancy’s work is designed to lead to better conservation rules based on the best available data to further a thriving lobster fishery. – Diane Cowan, PhD, Executive Director & Senior Scientist, The Lobster Conservancy, PO Box 235, Friendship, ME 04547.