PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 21, 2025
The value of Maine’s lobster fishery and the money lobstermen earn on the docks have hit new highs in the last five years. But the state Department of Marine Resources is highlighting a blind spot in that understanding of the lobstering economy. Adjusting dollar values and earnings to account for inflation dramatically shifts the outlook for the industry. And it challenges perceptions from the general public that lobstermen are financially thriving. Lobstermen have said rising costs of bait, fuel, gear and labor are leading to fewer trips on the water — and pose a threat to one of the state’s biggest economic engines.