Clawing back to lobster dominance

Maine takes on Canadians in processing catch

September 04, 2011|By Jenifer B. McKim, Globe Staff

Workers sorted boxes inside a lobster-processing plant owned by Linda… (Bill Greene/Globe Staff )

ROCKLAND, Maine - Lobster is as connected to this state’s image as its rocky coastline and thick forests. But for years, fishermen and others here say, Canada has been engaged in a kind of identity theft - much of the lobster caught in Maine waters is shipped north of the border to be chopped, frozen or cooked, and packaged. The meat is then resold as a product of Canada across the United States and the world.

That means millions of pounds of Maine lobster lose their local branding, Canadian businesses are able to largely dictate the price, and the state loses out on much-needed jobs and revenue.

Now, some local entrepreneurs are trying to take back the processing business, motivated by a growing market for lobster products, an environmental push to buy local, and a change in state law that makes it easier to sell lobster in parts - tails and claws.

The new processing companies are part of an upswing in Maine’s lobster industry. Last year, 94 million pounds of the spiny bottom-crawlers were hauled from the sea by Maine lobstermen - 66 percent more than a decade ago - generating $313 million, according to state data. But as it has for many years, about half of the catch went to Canada.

That could be changing. Several lobster-processing companies have opened in Maine this summer, hiring local workers to dissect, prepare, and pack the crustaceans. It’s a promising start, say those in the industry, but they acknowledge much work needs to be done if Maine is to wrest control of lobster processing from Canada.

Linda Bean, the 70-year-old granddaughter and heiress of retail magnate L.L. Bean and his company, is by far the most vocal booster of Maine’s lobster industry. Her own firm - Linda Bean’s Perfect Maine - operates a chain of lobster roll stands and seafood restaurants and has created a line of lobster products sold at hundreds of Walmart stores around the country. She bought her own processing factory in 2009 along the seaweed-covered coast of Rockland.

“I would like to see us get outside the grip of Canada and be independent like we used to be in Maine,’’ said Bean. “They’ve had us by the throat.’’

Like Bean, others hope selling processed lobster meat will be good business. While tourists still love to gorge on lobster freshly pulled from the Atlantic and quickly steamed, many diners, restaurants, and supermarkets seek the distinct butter-smothered taste without the mess and fuss.

“Today’s generation is less inclined to want to muck up the kitchen with a big, smelly pot of water,’’ said Greg Hansen, an official with Mazzetta Co., an Illinois firm that recently purchased a lobster company on Spruce Head Island near Rockland. “Supermarkets have moved away from the tanks in the stores.’’