An update on the 2009 lobster fishing season

It's been a while since my last update on the Maine lobster fishing season. The topline report is that, though the price per pound is down, the volume of lobster being caught in Maine is very good this year. As my mother wrote in an email last week:

"It has been a busy week on the water for the men. The fishing has been really good. They are finishing up on the trawls today and plan to haul back tomorrow and Friday, weather permitting. Yeah, another good thing is the price went UP 15 cents!! We are pleased with the good catches. Yesterday they had a lot to band at the end of the day... It is a lot of work...I'm sure they are all beat at the end of the day."

A true fisherman never discloses how exactly how much lobster he's catching to other fishermen, especially when he's doing well. This is partly because a fisherman needs to protect his fishing territory. While our town's fishermen tend to fish in roughly the same areas, and experience the same fluctuations in catch, there are always certain hot spots throughout the season. If you can discover a hot spot, you try to keep it quiet so other fishermen don't start shifting their gear into that area.

The better the fishing, the less fishermen want to talk about the fishing. When the fishing is poor, most often through the spring and early summer, the fishermen are constantly on the VHF radio, complaining about "changing the water in their traps" (a joke way of saying they're not catching any lobsters). If the fishing is really, really poor, a fisherman may even get specific about his catch, saying he hauled twenty traps for just one counter.

However when the lobster fishing starts to pick up, talk on the VHF starts to die down and when questioned about their catch, lobster fishermen will be very, very vague. For example, if you ask a fisherman how well he did on the North Shoal this week he might say "Oh, a little better than last week" which doesn't mean much, as he'll never say how much he caught last week!.

Beyond basic competitiveness, I think there's an overall sense of modesty amongst fishermen, at least around where I live. You never want to appear like you're doing too well. Even though I don't suppose most people from my town will read this blog, I try to be quite cautious about what I say with regards to the lobster catch. I've actually gone over this post quite a few times, editing out different details and cutting down on the quote from mother's email to ensure I don't disclose anything of which my family and/or town would disapprove.

Lobster fishermen fear bait shortage

I was just reading today in Forbes that there's a proposal to limit the harvest of herring in the Northeast over the next three years by about a 3rd. This could be another hard blow to lobster fishermen, who have already hit by historically low lobster prices over the past two years. As the article states:

Lobster fishermen fear there could be a shortage of bait for their traps next year under a proposal to sharply cut the herring catch in the Northeast.

A fishery management committee met Tuesday in Portland to review and discuss a proposal to limit the harvest to 90,000 metric tons in each of the next three years. The cap this year is 145,000 tons.

Fishermen say such steep cuts would give herring fishermen less fish to catch, thus reducing supply and driving up the price of herring that lobster fishermen use as bait.

Lobster bait, which often takes the form of herring, is critical to lobster fishing and one of the fishermen's key expenses. Even as far back as 15 to 20 years ago, when I was fishing in the summers with my father, we sometimes struggled to get a healthy supply of bait for a good price.

Back then, we'd go to Lubec to pick up our bait straight from a canning factory. My father built a big fiberglass box which filled the back of our pickup truck and that's how we transported the bait. My mother would drive the pickup down to Lubec and back it under a big shoot that came out of the side of the canning factory. Then the factory workers would open the shoot and the bait would come spilling out into the back of the truck. The seagulls would be circling around like mad and my mother always said it reminded her of Alfred Hitchcock's movie, "The Birds." Once many years ago, when we had difficulty getting bait from Lubec, my father and I took our boat over to Grand Manan, I Canadian island about an hour's boat ride from Cutler and filled the whole stern of the boat up with bait.

In the past 10 years or so, we've arranged to have bait delivered directly to our wharf, which makes things a lot easier. The bait comes on a big eighteen wheeler and is stored in big plastic exactor boxes (the blue box in the picture). We then move the exactor boxes around with a fork lift which saves a lot of heavy lifting on the part of the fishermen. While this approach has saved some of the manual work on our end, price continues to be an issue. I wonder what methods the fishermen will need to resort to in the coming years if there bait shortages become a real issue.

Price of lobster drops

Well, shortly after writing my last post, the price of lobster has dropped. The price has gone from $3 for soft shell, $4 for hard shell and $5 for selects (larger size lobsters) to just £3 for all of them. It's such a shame.

Some of the fishermen have been worried that they could end up in a situation where they have difficulty selling their catch at all. Most fishermen sell to a lobster dealer who will market their lobsters for them. I guess the demand is there with the dealers still and the catches are up so that helps things out.

Update on the fall fishing

Just a quick update on how the fall fishing is going - pretty well, from a Downeast Maine standpoint. The lobsters are starting to pick up, triggering some of the fishermen to "haul back" during the week.

Hauling back refers to hauling the same traps or trawls twice in the same week. Typically, lobster fishermen only haul their traps once per week. That's enough time to let the bait sit and attract the lobsters. After about a week the bait is no longer as effective so the fishermen haul their traps, pick out what lobsters they've caught, put in a fresh bait bag and reset the trap.

In the fall however, when the fishing gets really good, it's often worth the investment (fuel, bait and sternman wages) to take your boat out again towards the end of the week and haul back some of the same traps. The reason for this is that once a trap gets a certain number of lobsters in it, it's less likely to attract more lobsters, regardless of how fresh the bait is. Also, sometimes the lobsters in the trap will start fighting with each other - resulting in lost claws and dead lobsters. Hauling back ensures the lobsters are cleared from the trap before they get a chance to tear each other up and that room is freed up to attract more lobsters.

So it's good news that the fishermen are hauling back their traps. The price of lobster also seems to be picking up a wee bit. When I spoke to my father over the weekend, he said the boat price was $3, $4 and $5. I assume that means $3 per pound for soft shell, $4 per pound for hard shell and $5 per pound for selects (selects are usually lobsters over 2 and 1/2 pounds).

Learning about lobster fishing

Several weeks back, a man named Tom contacted me after reading my blog.  As he said in his email:

"I came across your blog "Notes from a Lobster Fishing Village" in my travels up the East Coast to Maine. I live in New Orleans and work as an architect and carpenter, but for the last three weeks I have been traveling from Louisiana along the east coast towards Maine (mostly of the beaten path). I'm in Mass now and headed to Maine in the next couple of days; this will be a foreign land to me as I have always lived in the south. I am very interested in seeing and spending a little time in one or a few small fishing villages in Maine, and was wondering if you could offer any suggestions. I have been mostly camping so far, and working on a couple of farms here and there in exchange for a meal or place to camp. I've never done any lobster fishing, but wouldn't mind exploring that experience if it's possible. Thanks for your time, and thanks for your wonderful blog."

  

I gave him a few suggestions of places in Southern Maine that were a bit more "off the beaten track" and worth a visit.  I also offered to connect him with my family if he felt like making the trek all the way to Downeast Maine, though I warned him it would be quite a journey and suspected he wouldn't make it that far.  

Lo and behold, he made it all the way to my home town and last week I got another email from him, as follows:

"I wanted to thank you for introducing me to your wonderful family and town. I had an amazing time meeting everyone and learning about lobster fishing, as well as, boat building, metal fabrication, and wind turbines. Norbert took me out on the boat and we pulled a trap near the light house; two "shorts" is all we caught, but the trap had only been in the water for an hour or so. They had lots of really nice things to say about you..."

Isn't it wonderful how modern technology can make such connections possible.  

More reflections on Maine lobster boat racing

Several weeks ago, I wrote about the summer sport of lobster boat racing. Interestingly, a week later the Wall Street Journal published an article on Maine lobster boat racing. The article gives a nice history of the sport:

"In the old days, when Maine lobstermen sailed schooners, races were usually casual affairs involving fellow townsmen trying to beat each other back to a harbor after a day of fishing. Beginning in the 1920s, individual towns along the coast began holding more organized races. Eventually, working lobstermen found themselves racing against vessels manned by boat builders, seafood merchants, auto mechanics and retired teachers."

The article also touches on the great lobster boat racing rivalry of the 1980s, which brought back many memories for me. As the article mentions, the heated competition was between two boats: the Sopwith Camel and the Red Baron. The Sopwith Camel, owned by the Young Brothers (Colby, Arvid and Arvin) "was named after the famed World War I British biplane, one of which shot down German flying ace Manfred von Richthofen" ( better known as the Red Baron).

My father was not only a good friend of the Young Brothers, he was also good with engines and did a lot of the engine building/repowering for the Sopwith Camel during those racing years. Many summer weekends during my youth were spent travelling up and down the coast with my family, as my father got the Camel's engine in shape for the next race. Mostly I'd watch the races from our boat or from the shore, but once or twice I had the thrill of riding in the Camel when she was going at full steam. She was so fast (around 60 miles an hour if I remember correctly) that my father would make me lay down flat on the floor in the stern of the boat to ensure I wouldn't be thrown overboard if we hit a wave. They even rigged the boat with a seat belt strap so that the driver (often Vid) could strap himself in standing up so he wouldn't be thrown into the engine if the boat jolted sideways (racing boats are so light that they often go airborne when they hit a wave under full speed). I have a collection of vintage t-shirts from my youth and by far my favorite is my Camel Race Crew t-shirt. I still wear it today and will have to upload a picture of me in it when I have a moment.

The rest of the article speaks to the various lobster boat race categories and prizes - a bit of cash (usually $200 or less) and "hat drawings wherein all entrants win some sort freebie donated by local merchants. Drawing prizes range from $100 bills, lobster traps and motor oil to gift certificates for boat-painting services and pizza."

All in all, I thought the Wall Street Journal did an excellent job of bringing to life the unique sport of lobster boat racing. It brought back some wonderful memories for me as well.

Calm After the Storm

I'm pleased to report that Hurricane Bill did not bring too much damage to the fishermen of Cutler.  As my mother wrote today:

"We certainly kept a weather eye out for which track hurricane Bill would take.  We were fortunate that it veered off from the coast.  We had really high tides this weekend that would have been really bad for us if it had been closer.  It did give us quite a storm surge and huge waves on the outer shore... I'm sure that the fishermen that have been fishing on the shore had damage to their traps." 

If a hurricane comes during the high tides, it can really do some damage to the lobster fishermen's traps, boats and wharves.  Leading up to a big hurricane, the fishermen make sure to check the lines they use to moor their boats, replacing or reinforcing any worn rope or old anchors.  If a boat breaks loose from its mooring in a hurricane, it means bad news not only to the boat owner, but also to all the surrounding boats, which it can smash into.  I remember various hurricanes growing up and how my father would be up throughout the night, going down to the harbor to check that his boat and the other boats in the harbor were safe.  

The fishermen usually haul their skiffs up onto the floats at the end of their wharves and flip the skiffs over so they don't fill up with water.  While skiffs are often equipped with scupper plugs at the stern to allow water to drain, the harsh rains of a hurricane can sometimes be too much for a skiff and sink it.  

Lobster fishing wharves are another area which must be looked after leading up to a hurricane. Often the fisherman keep extra traps, buoys and rope stored on their wharves and these items must be removed or secured so they don't get blown away.  In extreme cases, when strong hurricanes hit during high tides,  fishermen will park their trucks on the wharves to keep the strong seas from lifting the planks off.  

Finally, many fishermen will shift their traps away from the shore a bit, where the strong seas cause the most damage.  If you've ever walked along the shores of Maine and spied a mangled up wire trap or a buoy stuck way up high in some ledges, it was likely the result of a trap being left too close to shore during a hurricane.