The annual Maine Lobster Festival ended August 4, 2024, after a five-day run that targeted serving 20,000 pounds of crustaceans.
In the event, organizers served the shellfish in various ways from boiled to grilled and lobster rolls. They also prepared the crustacean with cheese and burgers that suited the tastes of diverse crowds.
According to Shannon Kinney, the festival’s director, the event required the efforts of 1,200 volunteers to make it a success.
Many volunteers return yearly to help out, with all earnings from the festival going towards community causes. These include helping children with scholarships and donating to the civil defense departments.
The 2024 event has also gained an industry face through the participation of the Maine Lobstermen Association, alongside the Maine Lobster Community Alliance.
With the solid backing of the two bodies, the Maine Lobster Festival gets distinction in all its aspects from food to sports.
One of the sports is the International Great Crate Race, a key reason why people visit the festival in large numbers. The water game in various weight categories sees participants race in crates back and forth in the ocean until they fall or get exhausted. The person who stays longest in the race before exhaustion or fall wins. In the just concluded 2024 race, the overall winner was featherweight, Mave Poland, an 11-year old girl.
In this 77th edition of the event, however, detractors such as animal rights campaigners staged a protest on the opening day of July 31. They displayed mock cats with funny banners that queried people why they eat lobster if they wouldn’t eat cats.
Fisheries Developments
Even as the festivities were happening, Maine’s lobstermen were still carrying out fishing, which peaks here between late June and early December.
The state’s lobster industry, which landed 42,517 tonnes in 2023, is currently rebuilding its storm-destroyed fishing infrastructure.
On July 22, 2024, Maine provided $21.2 million via the Working Waterfront Resilience Grant Program to reconstruct bait stations and piers.
The repairs come almost 7 months after January 2024 storms raged along the East Coast with winds of over 60mph, which damaged wharves. That was the same month when Maine introduced right whale traceability systems among fishermen to help with sustainable fishing.
In short, as the east coast marks its famous Maine Lobster Festival, it is also affording a conducive fishing environment through repairs. And to learn more where the state stands in terms of lobster catches, read on.
Maine Lobster Statistics
Maine is the chief source of American lobster species and has led production by state for the past 30 years ending 2024. The combined output between Maine and neighboring Massachusetts represents 93% of American lobster landings (excluding spotted lobster, spiny lobster, e.t.c.). However, for all species, Maine ranked second after Alaska in lobster landings in 2016 at $633.6 million pounds, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). In 2023, Maine produced 42,517 tonnes of lobster with a value of $464.4 million.
Which lobster species does Maine lead in?
American lobster (Homarus Americanus) is the main shellfish species in the northwest Atlantic, which includes Maine’s coast. In 2021, Maine led production at 110,697,747 pounds (50,212 tonnes) worth $742,975,103), according to NOAA. As such, 2021 marked a production high while 2022 saw a depreciation to 98,777,569 pounds (44,805 tonnes) worth $392,563,636.
Is lobster the only seafood resource in Maine?
Data by the government of Maine for the fiscal year 2023 shows that lobster represents 46% of Maine’s seafood production. The second biggest portion goes to menhaden (a type of herring) at 12%. In the followup are Atlantic herring at 7%, blue mussel at 3% and scallop at 3%. The rest of the fish species have 1% production share apiece.