Maine-ly Lobster

Coastal Maine Food and Travel Blog

  • Home
  • Fishing
    • The Maine Lobster Season
    • Maine Lobster Conservation
    • Lobster Fishing Families
    • The History of Lobster Fishing
    • Lobster Fishing Superstitions
    • Lobster Trap Wars
    • Books About Lobster Fishing
    • Lobster Boat Names
  • Visiting
    • Authentic Lobster Fishing Towns
    • Seafood Festivals
    • Where To Get The Best Lobster In Maine
    • Lobster Boat Racing
    • Seafood Festivals and 4th of Julys
    • The Best Lobster Shacks and Lobster Rolls in Maine
  • Buying
    • The Price of Lobster in Maine
    • Where To Buy Lobster In Southern Maine
    • Where to Buy Lobster in Midcoast Maine
    • Where To Buy Lobster In Downeast Maine
  • Cooking
    • Choosing A Good Lobster
    • Handling Live Lobster
    • Humanely Killing Lobster
    • Steaming Lobster
    • Cracking Lobster
    • Freezing Lobster
    • Pairing wine with lobster
  • Learning
    • Frequently Asked Questions About Maine Lobster Fishing
    • Learn About the Author, Christina Lemieux
    • Maine Lobster Conservation
    • Lobster In American Culture
    • Lobster In Europe
    • Branding and Marketing Maine Lobster
    • How to Pair Wine with Lobster
  • Recipes
Maine-ly Lobster > Learning about lobster, lobster fishing and Christina Lemieux > Maine Lobster Conservation

Maine Lobster Conservation

April 22, 2015 by Christina Lemieux Leave a Comment

Hauling Maine lobster trap

Photo courtesy of Laurie Cates.

Today is Earth Day.  A time to reflect on the health of world.  Many of the day’s headlines will focus on the need to tackle climate change and protect endangered species.  But Earth Day is also an opportunity to celebrate examples of successful management of our precious natural resources. The Maine lobster industry is one such example.

While over fishing has sadly led to the decline of other Maine fisheries such as cod, haddock and halibut, smart conservation measures have helped preserve the Maine lobster stock. For every lobster that comes onto the market, approximately three are sent back into the water for conservation. Baited lobster traps on the ocean floor help this brood stock thrive by supplying it with a steady food supply. In many ways, the Maine lobster industry has become a textbook example of how communities successfully protect and defend the resource on which they rely.

The abundance of the Maine lobster catch is due largely to the four critical conservation measures the fishermen, along with government officials, put in place many years ago.  They are as follows:

The Four Maine Lobster Conservation Measures

1. Young lobsters, called juveniles, cannot be harvested. Until they reach a size of over 3.25 inches on the carapace, they must be returned to the ocean. A metal gauge is used to check the carapace size. An average lobster in Maine waters will live and grow for about seven years before it is of harvestable size.

2. Large lobsters, more than five inches on the carapace, cannot be harvested. These lobsters are considered “forever wild” and must be returned to the ocean when caught. As with small lobsters, a metal gauge is used to check the carapace size of large lobsters.

3. Female lobsters that are pregnant (egg-bearing) or marked with a special, man-made notch in their inner right flipper cannot be harvested. They must be returned to the wild. Months or years down the line, if these female lobsters are no longer bearing eggs or have outshed their V-notches, it may be possible to harvest them.

4. All lobsters must be caught in traps—no dragging or diving is allowed. The traps must include escape vents for undersize lobsters, as well as biodegradable escape hatches to free lobsters in lost traps.

Yes,  climate change is likely also impacting the current abundance of lobsters along the coast of Maine and that is not such a good thing.  But I’m a positive person and this Earth Day I’m choosing celebrate a story of sustainability and add an optimistic headline to world!  Happy Earth Day everyone.

To read more about the Maine lobster season, click here.

Filed Under: Learning about lobster, lobster fishing and Christina Lemieux, Lobster Fishing Tagged With: Conservation, Earth Day

« Frequently Asked Questions About Maine Lobster Fishing
Savory lobster bouillabaisse recipe »

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Subscribe to My Blog

Learn more by reading my book about Maine lobster fishing

How To Catch A Lobster In Down East Maine

Copyright © 2023 · by Shay Bocks · Built on the Genesis Framework · Powered by WordPress