Lobsters remain plentiful in Maine, but outside forces cast uncertainty on industry

HARPSWELL ANCHOR • September 1, 2026

It might be hard to say how lobsters and the industry are doing. Lobster rolls might cost more, but they’re still available. Lobstermen are at the mercy of a range of outside forces: economic, ecological and regulatory. Trends in the lobster harvest and its value suggest lobstering is in a healthy position. But zooming out to include factors such as global trade and climate change show there is much uncertainty. From 1950 until the end of the 1980s, Maine lobstermen were landing around 20 million pounds of lobster each year. The high point Maine hit in 2016, when lobstermen landed nearly 133 million pounds. The trend of the last decade, however, has been down. Richard Wahle, a lobster biologist and former director of the University of Maine’s Lobster Institute, warns that long-term climate predictions suggest warming will be the predominant trend in coming decades.