Federal Government Enacts Whale Protection Act

And no one is happy about it. Not the lobstermen:

"There’s no way the industry can comply by October 2008," she said. "I don’t know what the [formal] response to the rule is going to be, but there definitely needs to be a response."

Mike Dassatt, board member of DELA, was highly critical of the mandated change. He said its financial effect on Maine will be significant.

"We’re talking about a whole state that will be impacted — tens of thousands of jobs," Dassatt said. "It’s like me telling Tiger Woods how to go golfing. Someone sitting behind a desk in Washington, D.C., should not tell me how to set lobster gear."

And not the whales' protectors:

"The net effect is that whales will be receiving less protection off the coast of Maine than they have before," Williamson said.

Williamson said that while the environmental groups recognize the economic importance of Maine’s $300 million lobster fishing industry, they believe that Maine fishermen, who have spearheaded resource protections in the past, can adapt.

One thing is for sure. You should expect your lobster to cost more in the near future.

Our Neighbors

We met our Cushing neighbor this weekend (that's him up there). He's a rarity in Maine these days-- a real, live lobsterman who can afford waterfront property--even if they own the property out right, taxes for waterfront property often are more than a lobsterman can afford. Or some CFA is willing to pay such a dear price for the land, a practical Mainer will sell and move to a house off-water. Lobstermen who don't live on the water often fish from floats moored in a harbor (like that one at right).

Our neighbor lives on the water because his family has owned the property for over 250 years and he drives a truck most of the winter to supplement his fishing income. The house has no furnace and no basement. The washing machine is in the garage and the dryer is a clothesline.

As soon as they realized we were mainers, and we weren't "mass-people", they offered us lobsters Rich had brought home that day. Then they told us to borrow their kayaks any time--don't even ask. Then Richard said he'd make sure that our drive was plowed so we could get to the house in winter. If he was on the road, his wife would be able to plow us. He also volunteered to help take down any trees on our property that are "wind damaged."*

We quickly found out that they don't like the neighbors on our other side anymore than I'm guessing we will.....it's never good to jump to conclusions with neighbors or people in general, but the two interactions we've had with them make me a tad wary. The first time we met them, they handed us a formal contract for the maintenance of our lane and said that we needed to "get this matter taken care of immediately." okaaaayyy. We fully plan to contribute to the upkeep of the lane, but I'm far more comfortable working out a handshake deal--not signing a legal document that could land us in court. My word is bond. I'd hope that they are the same way.

The second time, they brought their three Irish wolfhounds over and let them run amok in our yard and garden. If you've never seen one of these puppies in person, click the link to see just how ginormous these guys are. Anyway, one tried to sit in Retired Guy's lap while the other two tormented mac the dog. One would have been a bit much, but three was out of control. Then they mentioned that they'd turned in the lobsterman* for taking down trees on his land in such a way that we took it as a warning that we should not improve the view on our land. As soon as they left, we took down about 15 trees--with a hand saw.

I also have a sneaking suspicion that part of my wariness is because they're from away and they act like they are from away. They moved to Maine because they love Maine, but now that they're here, they want to start changing things.

Lobster Boat Tie-up

Two weeks ago, the "market price" for a 1.25 lb. Maine lobster at the Boca Resort and Beach Club was a whopping $140.00. I kid you not--they wanted $5.00 more for a 'bug' than they charged me for my room.

Considering that, it's completely understandable that Maine lobstermen are tying up their boats to protest and bring attention to the low prices that lobster are currently bringing. Dealers in some places are offering $3.50 a pound. The last time lobster prices dropped below $4.00 a pound was in 2003, when diesel and bait prices were considerably less.

Lobster Boat Races This Weekend

If you want to catch a lobster boat race, the place to be in Maine this weekend is Henry Cove for the last weekend of this season's lobster boat races. The Lorna R out of Beals Harbor is rumored to be going for a speed record of over 55 mph.

Look What Just Washed Up in York

A blue, albino lobster. How rare are blue lobsters? About 1 in 2,000,000.
If you'd like to see this guy, stop into Maude Hutchins. They're not going to make him into a lobster roll anytime soon. They've decided to keep him in the tank for a while

Free The Lobsters

If you're planning on a lobster dinner anytime soon, you might want to take out a bank loan or wait a bit before splurging on that dinner. Maine lobster prices are at record (or very close to record) high of $15.00 a pound due to a "perfect storm" of contributing factors: terrible winter weather, the timing of fishing seasons and very cold water.

One group wasn't deterred by the prices. An anonymous group paid almost $3400 for all of the one-claw lobsters at the New Meadows Lobster Pound in Portland so that they could release them back into the ocean. No one knows who the group is, but PETA has denied involvement. They evidently don't like the lobster industry enough to give them money for any reason.

Maine's Working Waterfront

The coast of Maine is only 293 miles from Kittery (the southern most point) to Eastport (the far eastern point), but the shore is so jagged and contains so many cutbacks and inlets and such that when all that is considered there are more than 4,500 miles of shoreline in Maine. Add in the island shoreline and it's more than 7,000 miles of coast.

Of that, according to CEI, only 25 total miles are still designated as working waterfront, and that number continues to decrease.

Earlier this week, the New York Times had a story on a non-profit group in Harpswell that raised $1.5 million to buy a dock and businesses at Holbrook's Wharf to protect their working waterfront. They failed to mention that the Harpswell solution bears some resemblance to what happened in York a few years ago--villagers banding together to preserve and protect a way of life and an important part of the state's history:

In 2003, the Village of York engineered a breakthrough solution to protect the docks near Sewall's Bridge on the York River., which included the local land trust. Land trusts have generally not been involved in waterfront issues, tending to stick with large undeveloped rural landscapes.

In this case The York River Land Trust became involved in the project because it felt that the dock was part of the historic and scenic beauty of the York River, and as part of the viewshed, it fell within the land trust's mission to attempt to protect the piece of land from unwanted development. It bought the development rights to the property, working with a coalition comprised of the York Land Trust, CEI, two lobstermen, and members of the Old York Homestead Association to ensure the community concerns were heard and addressed.

The village then defined the "working water front uses" with the future in mind. The fishery is not specified. The uses include the floats, docks, vessels, and other equipment and support resources required for harvesting aquatic (marine and freshwater) organisms. Support offices for related businesses are included. Retail shops, offices and open air snack bars are allowed provided that they relate directly the to the harvest of aquatic organisms. Marinas, restaurants, and fuel pumps are not included.

Lobstermen Protest Groundfishing Law

In Maine, if you're trawling for groundfish and catch a lobster, you have two choices: throw it back or take it down to Massachusetts where you can sell the lobsters. 12,000 pounds of Maine lobster ended up being sold in the Bay State in 2005--a very small fraction of the 67.3 million pounds of lobster caught by Maine Lobstermen in that year--but enough to convince many groundfishermen to sell their fish at Massachusetts piers.

So the state of Maine wants to make it legal for those lobsters to be sold here and have a bill pending that would do so.

As with many things in Maine, there isn't a clear-cut answer: the lobstermen oppose the bill, primarily because the lobsters caught in groundnets are the large female breeding lobsters that produce millions of eggs each year. Additionally, the lobstermen believe that a change in the bill would mean more trawlers targeting the lobsters and actually increase the numbers caught and sold (Federal law allows 100 lobster a day or 500 lobsters per trip to be kept in these circumstances).

Supporters of the bill say it's important because the number of boats selling fish at the Portland Fish Exchange has dropped from 250 to 110. The number of jobs at Maine processing plants has dropped to 800, down from the high of 1,700. They also contend that the lobsters caught 50 miles out to sea don't have any interaction with the lobsters caught by the traditional Maine lobsterman so there's no need to fear this bill.

Maine lobstermen have long practiced conservation and careful preservation of their fishing grounds, with the end result of lobstering being one of the few healthy fisheries left in New England. They've marshalled all 6500 lobstermen in opposition to this bill.

More information here.
The GloucesterTimes (Gloucester, MA) provides the Bay State perspective.
The Working Waterfront weighs in. (The Working Waterfront is the monthly published by The Island Institute. If you have any interest in Maine Island life, visit their museum/storefront in Rockland or on-line here).

Macaroni and Cheese with Lobster

Still testing recipes for New Year's Eve....we'll have a houseful of Ohioans, young and old, so I'm looking for foods that kids will eat and adults will find sophisticated enough for a gala celebration (a celebration that will include UNO and Scrabble--how's that for a gala?). This recipe combines an Ohio favorite (that's anything with cheese) with a Maine delicacy.
Yum.





8 oz elbow macaroni
16 oz heavy cream or whole milk
8 oz shredded sharp cheddar cheese
4 oz cream cheese
6 oz fresh Parmesan cheese, grated
4 oz Gruyere cheese, shredded

1 lb lobster meat, chopped
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 shallots, minced
1 Tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Bring salted water to a boil and add macaroni. Cook 8 to 10 minutes (do not overcook). In a double boiler, combine cheddar cheese, 4 oz Parmesan cheese, cream cheese, and Gruyere cheeses and heat until blended.

Gradually add cream or milk, stirring until smooth.

In large pan, heat olive oil and add shallots and garlic. Sauté. Add lobster meat and cook until opaque. Remove from heat.

Free The Lobsters

Alternate Title: Only in California
Or I Can Think of Far Better Ways to Spend $200.oo

This article from the American Spectator leaves me speechless:

Lobster Brisk

Douglas Tabler is the president and only member of the Lobster Rights Watch. He has just won a major victory on behalf of his mute crustacean friends -- or so he thinks. Several weeks ago when California's North Coast Co-op opened its big, snazzy new supermarket it had a tank to hold live lobsters. The fresh water burbled through day and night. The lobsters' claws were clamped shut, lest they eat one another before the customers got them.. Mr. Tabler happened upon this tableau and looked the lobsters in the eye. Like George Bush seeing Vladimir Putin's soul, Doug saw their fright and loneliness. He reasoned that he'd be frightened and lonely, too, if he were about to be boiled in someone's cooking pot. Not one to shun a fight, he set up a one-man picket line in front of the Co-op. When the tank's occupancy dwindled to four lobsters, he decided to take more direct action. He bought the four lobsters, after first making contact with a chap in Maine who agreed to release them back into the Atlantic, from whence they came. Resourceful Doug plunked down $200 to send his lobsters to Maine by FedEx. The man at the other end dutifully released them into the ocean. Doug and his numerous sympathizers cheered the lobsters' freedom. Apparently, no one was cruel enough to point out that the lobsters would soon end up in another lobsterman's pot (trap) on the ocean floor and go right back to market. Blithely ignorant of the realities of lobster harvests or not, Mr. Tabler wasn't finished. He said would continue picketing until the Co-op shut down its lobster tank for good. Many letters to the editor appeared in local newspapers, praising him for his humani -- err -- lobsterstarian deed. Some were cynical. A few even suggested that his $200 would have been better spent on food and medical supplies for the children of Darfur. Never mind, the doughty Doug continued picketing. That brings us to the regular board meeting of the Co-op, held last week. The board is elected by the Co-op's 10,000 or so members. Everything is very democratic. Friends of Mr. Tabler lobbied board members. The board voted to remove the lobster tank. The store manager was unflappable. He said it had been placed there because customers wanted it and they bought about 43 pounds of lobster a week. Perhaps he can make up the lost lobster sales in mung beans and organic brussels sprouts. Doug was elated at the outcome of the Co-op board meeting's vote. But wait. There is a much bigger challenge ahead. Dungeness crab season is about to begin. It is one of the mainstays of the north coast economy. Several million pounds of the succulent ocean crawlers is caught and sold every year. They are boiled, just as lobsters are, but in commercial markets, not on the home stove. The lobsters' champion has a big job on his hand. How can he picket all the fishing boats and fish markets between, say, Monterey and Portland, Oregon? If he hadn't sent his four lobsters back to Maine, he might have kept them around to picket with him. Alas, they probably ended up in drawn butter. He'll have to find some new friends to march with him this time.

Do you think the chap in Maine released those lobsters, or threw them in a pot and ate them for dinner?

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TRAP DAY On Monhegan

It's Trap Day!

Today, provided the weather cooperates and all lobstermen are healthy and able to set traps, the 17 lobstermen of Monhegan Island will open their lobstering season. If one person can't go, they all wait. The decision is made by consensus (never a vote) at a meeting in the Fish House. Only lobstermen attend. No sternmen, no wives. No reporters.

Monhegan Island is a small (and rather famous) island off the coast of Maine. It has approximately 60 year round residents, and in the very early 1900's the island did something unusual. The island fishermen asked the state of Maine to ban lobster fishing within two miles of the island from July to December.

So while most of the rest of Maine's 7000 lobstermen have pulled up their traps and put up their feet by a warm fire for the winter (just kidding--most of those guys are all plowing roads, doing carpentry work or some other kind of work), Monhegan is just beginning to lobster.

They do it for a couple of reasons: Monhegan has one of the most vibrant summer tourist businesses on the Maine coast. Some of America's most famous paintings are of Monhegan scenes and on any summer day, multiple painters set up easels and paint (undisturbed) the Monhegan beauty. Fishing in the winter allows the lobstermen to work lucrative summer jobs and fishing in the winter assures that there's a sizable (by Maine island standards, anyway) winter population on the island. While other Maine islands are becoming seasonal communities, Monhegan is still a healthy, year-round place to live.

Secondly, Monhegan lobstermen have long been one of the leaders in lobster conservation and management of their business. Fishing in the winter brings higher prices for the hardshell lobsters that the catch.

Because there are no cars (only a few pickup trucks are allowed) on the island, and because the town dock has limited space it takes a coordinated effort to get each lobstermen's 600 traps down to the dock and set. Family and friends come from the mainland to help on trap day and all the islanders who are able, pitch in. Today, everyone cooperates.

Toward the end of the day, someone will observe another Monhegan tradition--one of the lobstermen will present the island's oldest resident with the first lobster of the season. 95 year old Rita White never asks, but she always gets the first one.

If you want more detail on Lobster Day, Colin Woodard opens (and closes) his excellent book The Lobster Coast with Trap Day.

Two Days Until Trap Day

Port Clyde, ME

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Three Days Until Trap Day

Monhegan Island, Maine

Four Days Until Trap Day

Photo National Geographic

And that means lobster.