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This article is part of The $42 Million Question, a Harpswell Anchor special report.
Almost every lobsterman has the same answer about what they’re paying too much for: “Everything.” They are feeling the squeeze in every aspect: fuel, bait, traps, rope, insurance and more. The only thing that they say hasn’t gone up is the price they get for their lobsters.
Independence is a hallmark of lobstering. Lobstermen choose early mornings, physical work and bad weather over the strictures of a 9-to-5 job. Still, they cannot escape the dynamics of the global economy, geopolitics and regulations, all of which are making it more expensive to go fishing.
“I guess now you have to fish with a calculator,” said Matt Clemons, who fishes from Potts Harbor Lobster on Harpswell Neck.
Lobstermen are finding ways to adapt, but they worry about how long they can last in these conditions. And many see dim prospects for the next generation.
Fuel might be the most visible cost. Lobster boats run on either gasoline or diesel, and the price of both has gone up dramatically this season.
Gasoline prices rose above $4.50 per gallon in Maine this year, according to the price-tracking website GasBuddy. At Glen’s Lobsters on Mackerel Cove, a gallon of diesel cost $4.60 at the end of May. Both are up a dollar or more from their price a year ago, largely as a result of the ongoing Iran war that is disrupting production and shipping.
Prices for other necessities have gone up as well. Harpswell lobstermen reported that lobster traps cost somewhere between $150 and $200 these days.
Sea Rose Traps in Biddeford sold a typical 4-foot trap for roughly $180 at the beginning of August, according to a person who answered the phone there and gave his name only as Adam. He said two years ago, the same trap cost less than $150, and 10 years ago, it probably cost less than $100.
Clemons said he has adjusted to the rising price of traps by making each one last longer. He used to replace 200 traps each year, but now he replaces 100. He has made other changes in the way he operates as well. Whereas before he would visit each trap every two days, now he waits four or five days to save money on fuel.
There are other strategies, too. Kaileb Hawkes, who fishes from Cundy’s Harbor, hauls all his gear each time he goes out, to make his trips more efficient.
The biggest investment for most lobstermen, a boat, is also growing more expensive. Jon Johansen, owner of Jonesport Shipyard and Holland Boat Shop, said a ready-to-fish, fiberglass, 35-foot lobster boat might cost about $350,000 and a 50-foot boat $1 million. In the 1950s, when boats were wooden, a 35-foot vessel cost around $5,000, some $70,000 in today’s dollars.
The rest of the gear is getting pricier, too. Midcoast Marine Supply, in Brunswick, reported that a typical coil of rope sold for almost $150 at the beginning of August. That same coil was just over $100 in 2020.
The price of the most commonly used lobster buoy was $12.95 at the beginning of August, up from $10.75 in 2021, the first year the store sold them.
Those buoys reflect another trend in the industry. Ellie Crossman, one of the store’s managers, said it buys buoys from a supplier in China. Until 2021, it sold a U.S.-made brand. But the manufacturer went out of business and the only other buoy maker in the U.S. doesn’t ship to Maine, Crossman said.
That left Midcoast with no choice but to buy from overseas. That makes the price of buoys more susceptible to swings because of political decisions, like President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Chinese goods, as well as the effects of oil prices on shipping costs.
It’s a similar story across the lobster industry, according to Stefano Tijerina, of the University of Maine’s business school. “Nothing is produced here. Everything is at the mercy of international trade,” he said.
Lobstermen agreed that many prices rose sharply during the COVID-19 pandemic, which had dramatic effects on global supply chains that import products like buoys and materials like wire mesh for traps from China and other countries. By and large, those prices have stayed high or gotten higher, lobstermen said.
Besides fuel, another daily expense is bait. A barrel of bait at Glen’s cost $230 at the end of May. Nick Christensen, who works on the wharf, estimated that he paid $75 a barrel when he started fishing more than 20 years ago, or around $180 in today’s dollars.
The price of bait is tied to the same fuel and equipment costs that lobstermen have to pay. But rising bait prices are also a result of fishery policies that have limited the number of boats that can fish for pogies and other baitfish. Before those federal policies were implemented in response to destructive overfishing in the Gulf of Maine and elsewhere, more Maine lobstermen were bait suppliers for themselves and others.
Yet another cost to lobstermen is labor. While some go out alone, many lobstermen take one or two helpers with them. These sternmen are often paid a percentage of the day’s catch, usually between 15% and 20%, according to Harpswell lobstermen. Some helpers are paid a flat daily rate instead.
Lobster boat captains said it is becoming increasingly hard to find and keep good helpers. Several cited Maine’s rising minimum wage as a factor, because it makes other jobs more attractive.
Others pointed to the difficulty of buying or renting a home in Harpswell. Many helpers drive 45 minutes or an hour each morning and afternoon to get to and from the wharf, a commute that’s growing more expensive with high fuel prices. Captains say they have to pay well for good crew.
On the other side of the equation is the price of lobsters. “That’s really the problem. Everything is more expensive, but the price we’re paid per pound stays pretty stagnant,” Clemons said.
Data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration bears that out. Twenty-five years ago, Maine lobster buyers were paying $5.77 per pound of lobster, when adjusted for inflation. Ten years ago, it was an inflation-adjusted $5.65. In May, Glen’s was paying $5.75.
At Glen’s, Christensen added up the numbers for a boat that had just sold its catch. The wharf paid him just over $1,160 for around 200 pounds of lobsters. That morning, the captain bought $460 worth of bait and $135 of diesel. If he paid his helper 15%, that would be around $175, leaving the captain with just over $390 before taxes.
That’s before accounting for his investments in the boat, in traps and other gear, in insurance — which one lobsterman with a large boat said runs him $1,000 each month — and more.
Despite the costs, lobstermen said they intend to keep fishing. Whether from their own experience or local history, they know lobstermen have found ways to keep going through the challenges of the past, and they think they’ll be able to as well.
All the same, lobstermen worry about the future of their industry. “How can guys afford to start?” lobsterman Craig Rogers said at Glen’s, where he fishes from, in June.
Sitting next to him, Shawn Baumgartner agreed. The wharf’s owner and a lobsterman himself, Baumgartner felt pretty gloomy about his line of work: “It’s expensive, it’s hard to find helpers. The fun is wearing off.”
J. Craig Anderson contributed reporting.
