How Economic Incentives Can Help the Maine Lobster Industry

Perhaps the best data yet on what is happening to the Maine lobster comes from Robert Steneck. A professor at the University of Maine, Steneck has been collecting data on the American lobster for almost thirty years. His findings have sparked major controversy among the affected parties in the debate, since his research claims that overharvesting is a myth. He says that the recent surge in catches has been due to an abnormal increase in the lobster population. Steneck believes that numerous factors influence this population, ranging from water temperatures to current patterns to numbers of breeding females. His research has been in cooperation with many lobstermen in Maine, whose arguments he supports. However, even his research cannot draw away from the fact that something must be done (Corson 2002, 1-22).

"Whether or not lobsters are being overfished, lobstermen face some serious problems. If the banner years end and catches return to their previous levels, overfishing might become a more plausible danger, because there are far more traps in the water than there used to be. And even if no biological disaster ever occurs, an economic one might. Fishermen who have invested too heavily in their equipment will suffer if catches decline, as will families who have grown accustomed to a higher standard of living. Some lobstermen fishing today have no memory of the slower-paced, less lucrative kind of lobstering that the older generation knew. That is because they started lobstering recently-after the collapse of other fisheries (Corson 2002, 21)."

This argument that something needs to be done is similar to the findings of the MDMR in a recent survey done in 2000. Town meetings and public opinion showed that many people were worried about socio-economic issues, in particular how changes can be made that protect the industry from collapse (Commercial Fisheries News 2001).

The Maine Lobster Zone Management Law was passed in 1995, creating seven regional lobstering zones, each with its own council comprised of local lobstermen. The law was finally implemented in 1997, and it has been the biggest achievement in Maine lobstering since the dual-gauge law (Gavrilov 2001, 7). Its passage marked the first step in the industry to allow lobstermen to have a say in how they should be regulated. This is reminiscent of the Australian style of communication between regulatory bodies and the lobstermen. Thus it is the first step in a progression towards a more conservative approach to lobstering.

However, Maine is not like the Australian example in many ways. Maine lobstermen feel that the tradition of lobstering is their own, and that government and scientists are trying to take it away with their models of overharvesting and regulatory techniques. Any restrictions are often viewed as unnecessary and damaging. The community councils in the regional zones often find themselves at a loss when it comes to regulating some of the more stubborn lobstermen. "Some guys just won't take it," says Skip. And it shows when enforcement officers round up lobstermen that are in direct violation of regulations. "You can't even find most of the guys out around the islands," claims Skip. He's referring to many of the island communities off the coast that have been using forms of harbor gangs to "persuade" others not to lobster in their waters. Forms of persuasion include cutting trap lines and sometimes even sabotaging boats (Werner 2002). Whether it is the fault of legislation that imposes the rules or the lobstermen that don't obey them, it seems that perhaps another form of policy is in order.

Be Sure to Continue to Page 3 of "How Economic Incentives Can Help the Maine Lobster Industry".