When I talk about the work that I do in community based fisheries management in Maine with people who are unfamiliar with the industry, often the conversation changes to people telling me about the seafood products that they love to consume. More and more, the person I’m talking to often says something along the lines of “but we should really stop eating everything that comes from the ocean RIGHT NOW due to overfishing.”

WRONG. Please, for the love of Pete, don’t do that.

First of all, you’re right, Seafood Lover, there are many species that are experiencing overfishing or that have been overfished. But there are suitable, sustainable fish, shellfish, and crustacean options for your palette. I’ll do this over a series of installments, so please check back for more information.

AMERICAN LOBSTER Homarus americanus

This may seem simple or silly for you Mainers, but there are many economic and ecological benefits to consuming lobster. According to the Maine Department of Marine Resources, as of August 31, 2009, there are 5538 lobster license holders in the State of Maine.

Maine requires lobster fishermen to abide by strict and heavily enforced rules that promote conservation and sustainability of this essential stock in the Gulf of Maine.

• Minimum measure ensures juveniles get to live until they are able to reproduce.
• Maximum measure keeps those big lobsters on the ocean floor and reproducing.
• V-notching (literally cutting a v-shape into the middle flipper on the tail) is done on female lobsters that are trapped and carrying eggs. This notch notes them as being good breeders, and they must be returned to the ocean in the future even if they are not bearing eggs at the time they are caught.
• Lobsters landed in Maine are only harvested by traps. This method of fishing has minimal impact on the essential habitat on the ocean floor and also ensures a high quality product that is handled only by hand.
• This is an owner-operator fishery, which means the license holder must be on board the vessel when fishing and he is only allowed to fish his own gear, marked with a unique buoy.

Background: When the worldwide economic crisis hit in the fall of 2008, the lobster market was hit particularly hard and boat prices (also known as ex-vessel value, this term signifies the price that fishermen receive for their catch through their dealers) dropped below $2.00/lb in some areas. This has had a drastic effect on Maine’s remote island and coastal communities. These sea towns have little alternate employment and due to overfishing and mismanagement of other species, 90% of seafood landings come from the lobster industry. The good news is that the resource is at a time of unprecedented abundance and 2009 yielded a high volume of landings. The bad news is that the boat price is still low.

Many people think of lobster as a summertime luxury item, but fishermen harvest this product year round, which means that it isn’t traveling thousands of miles and still has a pretty low carbon footprint. With lobster retail prices starting around $5.40/pound in the winter of 2010, this product is still accessible. It’s not as cheap as chicken, but when you’re thinking about seafood for dinner as you walk around your local fishmonger or grocery stor, think of lobster. Eat this succulent critter and you’re helping your coastal economy and local neighbors. Win-win.