Maine Tourism and Seafood Updates

Lamoine Beach

The numbers are in for 2010. Maine tourism is on the rise since the dismal 2009 season, with increases in the state of 8% and Acadia National Park of 12 to 13%.  Additionally, the fall season was even better, indicating that the trend is not fading. Both the Maine Office of Tourism and The Maine Tourism Association are bullish on the 2011 season. Maine is within a six hour drive of 26 million people, and if the economy continues to mend, those folks will need a vacation.  We hope they come to Acadia.

Maine shrimp

Now for seafood. The big news on Friday was that the Maine shrimp season is shutting down early, on February 28, six and a half weeks earlier than planned. While this sounds like bad news, it’s not. The early shutdown is simply because biologists have declared that the total catch quota has been reached. The shrimp fishery is healthy and shrimp fishers have reached their limit with less fuel and in shorter time. Although this quota is much less than old record years, the management of the fishery is with an eye toward building up the stocks rather than the boom-and-bust days of old. Soon Maine’s shrimp industry will rival the productivity of our lobster fishery. Read on.

And how did the Maine 2010 lobster season do? Terrific! 81.1 million pounds was the 2010 total, far outstripping any other year since record keeping began. Remember, our lobster are caught in traps, not nets or dragged dredges, so it’s certain that many, many lobster escape to live another year. Follow the link above to discover the details of our sustainable lobster industry. The only possible problem on the horizon is the cost of fuel and bait. Diesel keeps going up, and our method of rejecting under- and over-sized lobster in addition to egg-bearing females means lots of fuel is necessary for each pound harvested. Compared to 1950, and adjusted for inflation, our lobster fishers are receiving less per pound ($2.92 in 2009 VS. $3.12 in 1950) and paying more for fuel ($1.60/gallon VS. $2.50/gallon or more now) and bait ($1.00 per bushel VS. $20-$25 now). We may get to a time when the limit to the lobster industry is not supply, but the price of lobster to the consumer. Thanks to The Ellsworth American for the above numbers.

Atlantic cod

Meanwhile, Maine groundfish, the word used to mean all traditional finned commercial species like cod, halibut and haddock, is  not doing so well. Actually, the fish are doing better than the industry. Some say the industry is on the verge of collapse, with fewer than 70 boats compared to a peak of 350 engaged in commercial groundfish fishing in Maine. There are many reasons why stocks are down but overfishing is the big one, and applying the management techniques used in our more successful fisheries is showing signs of success–stocks are rebounding. But how do we make sure there are those able to catch the rebounded stocks if the industry is allowed to die? In 2008, those 70 or so boats were allowed to fish a total of 48 days. Perhaps the correct level for allowing the stocks to rebound but not the industry. Times are tough. Now there is a new management system in place, which divides fishing grounds into sectors and allows more local management. The fishers will be more actively involved in the science and will no longer be in a mad scramble to maximize their catch in 48 days. We’re at the bottom of this fishery at present, I hope to report soon that the Maine groundfish industry is on the upswing. Once those cod recover however, look out lobster! They are a cod’s favorite food.

Related Posts:

• The Maine Lobster Mystery
• The Fishing News
• It’s Maine Shrimp Season