| Long ago Maine lobsters were
so bountiful, local shores had piles of
them. Native Americans used lobsters to
fertilize their fields, which helped the
Maine Land flourish. Therefore, because
of the abundance of lobsters the locals
knew it as "poverty food" and
only prisoners and servants ate lobsters.
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During the
1800’s lobsters were caught with your bare
hands. Later that century Lobstering became a
trap fishery, meaning traps were used to capture
the lobsters. By the 1850’s the term
lobsterman was introduced. Nearly 150 years later
lobstermen in Maine have caught more lobsters
than anywhere in the world.
Family Business
Maine Lobstermen
have "unwritten laws" to follow. These
laws were adopted to protect the resources and
territories of lobstermen. Lobstering is a family
business. This limits people who do not have a
family member in the lobster business from
fishing traps. Therefore, a long generation of
lobstermen in Maine is a standing tradition.
Should an
"outsider" try to start fishing, he has
a rude awakening. He will be alienated from the
start and have his traps moved or trap lines
tangled intentionally. This is a warning to find
another line of work. If he or she continues to
fish, his trap lines will get cut and will only
leave a floating buoy remaining. A Lobster trap
roughly costs $40. Here at Mainelylobsters.com,
we are 3rd generation lobstermen
providing you with the best lobster on earth.
Rules and
Regulations
There are a few
rules and regulations to abide by in Maine. The
Maine Department of Marine Resources manages the
beautiful shores of Midcoast Maine. The Federal
government is responsible for managing lobsters
caught between 3 and 200 miles. It is important
federal and state laws compliment each other.
State and Federal laws share a minimum legal size
of 3 1/4 inches. This means that the lobster has
to measure 3 1/4 inches from the eye socket of
the lobster to the beginning of the tail.
Scientists have
discovered that 85% of lobsters were being caught
before having a chance to reproduce even once.
The state and federal law are to protect the
lobsters’ reproduction abilities. Scientist
found that with only 15% of lobsters reproducing
the industry could not survive. We adopted this
law so lobster lovers could enjoy Maine lobster
for generations to come.
During the past
few years, there has been a major debate over a
trap limit. Before now there was no limit to the
number of traps a lobsterman could fish. A law
was passed the last couple of years limiting the
number of traps to 800. In the past, lobstermen
were fishing up to 1500 traps. This law is to
prevent over- fishing of the lobsters and protect
our industry for many years to come.
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