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How does the old song go? “You Can’t Keep a Good Man Down.”
Well, allow us to put a little spin on the tune: “You can’t keep a good lobsterman down.” (And, of course, by lobsterman—the traditional term—we’re very much including lobsterwomen as well.)
Here at The Craignair Inn by the Sea, we’re privileged to welcome guests in the very heart of MidCoast Maine, which itself happens to be in the heart of the biggest lobster industry in the U.S. Diners at our on-site Causeway Restaurant get to tuck into these most gastronomically celebrated crustaceans, harvested locally in Penobscot Bay by hardworking lobstermen practicing time-honored traditions. We couldn’t be prouder to support these fisherfolk and the fertile Gulf of Maine ecosystem that produces such carefully managed bounty and celebrate the outcome of the recent Maine Lobstermen’s Association lawsuit.
A Victory for the Maine Lobsterman
Last summer, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled in favor of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association—the longest-running fishing industry association on the U.S. East Coast, founded back in 1954—in its lawsuit against the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
In its proposed 10-year plan for the protection of the North Atlantic right whale, the federal agency had charged that the Maine lobster industry negatively impacted that endangered marine mammal, and would have imposed severe new restrictions on where and how lobsters could be harvested. The Maine Lobstermen’s Association filed its lawsuit challenging these proposed regulation changes in September 2021, and the road to the appeals-court vindication was not easy.
The appeals court wrote that NOAA relied on “worst-case scenarios and pessimistic assumptions” in portraying the risk posed to whales by the lobster industry.
Upon the ruling, Maine Governor Janet Mills and a delegation of lawmakers wrote in a statement: “Today’s decision vindicates what the Maine lobster fishery, and the countless communities that rely on it, knew all along—that their practices support the conservation of the gulf ecosystem for generations to come. We are pleased the court has acknowledged that the data set NOAA has been using to unfairly target Maine’s fishery is flawed.”
Maine’s Venerable Lobstering Tradition
The American lobster whose succulent, low-fat, protein-rich meat comes so coveted around the world is perhaps the signature critter of the North Atlantic (or Atlantic Boreal) coast, its distribution matching the bounds of that marvelous marine ecosystem anchored by the Gulf of Maine.
Migrating between winter depths and shallower inshore habitats in summer, American lobsters are the heftiest of all crustaceans: The largest of them may grow four feet long and tip the scales at more than 40 pounds.
Maine as well as the adjoining Atlantic Provinces of Canada form the core of the Boreal lobster industry, which in the Pine Tree State has been going down since the 1600s. As the Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative notes, more than 5,600 lobstermen are employed each year in Maine’s lobster fishery, which annually contributes better than $1 billion to the state’s economy.
Lobsters in Maine are entirely hand-caught, and lobstermen pursue a variety of practices—including marking gravid (egg-bearing) female lobsters so they’re never harvested and only keeping lobsters of approved size—to ensure the industry’s sustainability.
The Craignair Inn’s Continuing Support for Local Maine Lobstermen
(RIGHT/BELOW: Sam Couzensof F/V Adrenaline, live Maine lobsters caught daily in South Thomaston, ME.)
When you enjoy the unparalleled flavor of the best lobsters in Maine at our Causeway Restaurant, you’re not only experiencing one of the world’s great seafood delicacies:
Here's to the tireless men and women who supply fresh Maine lobsters to The Craignair Inn! Book a table at our Causeway Restaurant today.
