ROCKLAND, Maine — The Maine wild blueberry industry has successfully marketed its product over the past decade and the Maine lobster industry may need to do the same thing if it wants to see the price for the state’s most valuable seafood increase.
About 50 lobstermen turned out Thursday evening at Oceanside High School to hear a presentation called “Project Maine Lobster.” The meeting was organized by the Maine Lobster Advisory Council. An earlier meeting had been held in Yarmouth and more are planned along the coast.
“This came out of the frustration when the bottom dropped out of prices in 2008. We’re not any better off today,” Bob Baines of South Thomaston, chairman of the advisory council, said.
Baines noted bait prices have more than doubled during the past year and fuel prices have tripled.
One way to increase prices is to increase demand and that is where marketing is being proposed.
Maine Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher noted that any marketing plan will need the support of the industry before it would be introduced as legislation by the administration and sent on to the Legislature.
Gov. Paul LePage is a supporter of branding Maine products, Keliher noted.
John Sauve of the advertising and marketing company Food and Wellness Group said the right marketing can increase demand which would help push up the price of lobsters.
“It’s an iconic product for the state of Maine,” Sauve said.
He said when marketing surveys are done outside Maine, lobster is the No. 1 answer when people are asked what they identify with Maine.
“Lobster without question blows away any other answer,” he said.
Sauve pointed out that the Maine wild blueberry industry has successfully marketed it product and even though there has been a large increase in production, demand also has increased dramatically.
Lobster landings set a record last year in Maine at 104 million pounds with harvesters paid $331 million. The price per pound paid to lobstermen last year was $3.19, which is down from the record of $4.63 in 2005 and much less than the $4.39 per pound price paid in 2007, before the start of the Great Recession.
Another presentation is scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday, June 18, at the University of Maine at Machias and the final one is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday, June 19, at Ellsworth High School.
So how long do Canadian lobsters have to be kept in Maine pens until they can be branded as “Maine Lobsters”?
And pray tell these hard-working lobstermen just who and where are these mysterious customers to be found who will pay top-dollar plus more just because the lobstah is branded as “Maine” … last time I checked my income had gone down …
Brand Em?
Will the Hot Iron even make a mark on the lobster shell?
stickers, stickers everywhere.
What makes a lobster a “Maine lobster?” Caught in Maine waters? Caught from a boat registered to a Maine port? Sold by a company registered in Maine? Lobsters are lobsters, you can’t tell where they came from once they’re in the market.
All grocery prices are already sky high! Hey Paul! Next time I can gather enough for a lobster feed would you mind paying for some of it? If all this extra cost was passed on to the fishermen it would be a lot easier to swallow. (No pun intended).
I saw where stores outside Maine are already calling lobsters “Gulf of Maine” lobsters. Maine should do this, but this will be impossible to police. If a competitor starts to lose sales with Gulf of Maine, they’ll call them Maine lobsters.
Good idea, but much ado about nothing.
not necessariyl, many companies have been able to enforce their particular brand names by using trademarks and copyrights.
if the lobstermen or state were to trademark “Maine lobster” then there would be legal grounds to sue others that use that brand name
just a thought.
Let’s face it, branding sells. Lots of people are lured by brands, why do you think retailers work so hard to promote brands. If there is some brand attached to something, many feel that it is worth more money. Look at all of the people who wear clothes and accessories with brand names all over them.
Wow….I can barely afford lobsters now and I am surrounded by the industry….. it’s ridiculous that people who live on the coast of Maine are going to be even further priced out of being able to enjoy a lobster from time to time…
you’d be able to afford it every week if you were on welfare though.
Or if there were decent jobs and extreme wealth concentration was slowed.
Mainers don’t own Maine anymore. Ours is a poor state which makes it easy for those ‘from away’ to scoop up our prime real estate. Tourism used to be booming and locals could live pretty well on their seasonal business incomes.
Things have changed dramatically and they won’t improve under a ‘Rominee’, much less a LePage.
Obama 2012
Hey
Ask Bob Baines where he is from.
Try New Jersey.
Meaning what?
If lobstermen sold their product to the public they would get retail. If they continue to sell them wholesale they’ll continue to get wholesale prices. Restaurants make a killing. 1.25 lb lobster for $20!? or make it a twin for only $39.99? Don’t forget, you also get a $0.25 piece of corn and a bag of chip with 17 chips in it with that order! **Disclaimer- Butter not included**
Easier said than done. If you want to be a fisherman, trying to find the time (after 10 – 12 hours per day on the boat) to sell your product retail, in an area that’s saturated with fishermen and has very little tourism, it’s not so easy. I make a number of private sales over the course of a season. I charge more than boat price (plus bonus), but still give the customer a good deal, but there’s not enough volume there to put much of a dent in things.
Quit trying to reinvent the wheel.
‘Maine Lobster’ is it own brand and has been for decades. ‘Gulf of Maine lobster’ could be from anyplace and holds no significance for me.
Linda Beans ‘Perfect Maine lobster is not so perfect and I would never pay for her overpriced frozen ammonia smelling lobster roll – Miracle Whipped or not. Yuck. Yet people say she’s a marketing prodigy. Not.
What’s needed are lower gas prices and a few more competitive bait purveyors.
We’re all in this together. I make a point of still buying lobster when the price is ‘reasonable’ ie $5 or $6 a pound. It used to be $3 or $4 not that long ago.
Obama 2012.
You can dress em up with tags, stickers, and call them whatever you wish, but when I buy lobsters (which is not very often) it’s always fresh off boat at the dock. The cash I pay the lobsterman goes straight in his pocket and not to a wholesaler or supermarket with their ridiculous prices.
Why is there no mention of the Maine Lobster Promotion Council in this article? There has been a surcharge on our license’s since 1990 to fund this useless organization. This is what there mission is supposed to be; promoting Maine Lobster and helping to ensure that Maine lobster fishermen are getting a good price for their product. Boat price right now for new shells is $2.75 in my area. Just about the same price as it was 20 years ago.