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Drop in Maine lobster catch might not be as bad as feared

AP PHOTO/ROBERT F. BUKATY
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The state with the largest fishing industry for lobster likely experienced a drop in catch last year, but the dip in harvest was probably not as dramatic as initially feared.

Patrick Keliher, commissioner of the Maine Department of Marine Resources, told Maine Public that initial reports show a harvest of about 100 million pounds of lobster. That would be a drop of nearly 20 million pounds from last year, but still a much higher number than the industry was used to in the 1990s and 2000.

The season initially looked like it could produce a substantial drop in catch, but Maine’s lobstermen finished strong, Keliher said. The price for Maine lobster was also strong, he said.

“We’ll be down many millions of pounds this year,” Keliher told Maine Public. “But value is up some, so that’s a good thing.”

It’s possible for the state’s lobster catch to be slowed down by lobsters shedding their shells late in the year. The biggest surge in catch happens after many lobsters lose their old shells and reach legal harvesting size.

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