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Maine Is Drowning in Lobsters

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Re: Maine Is Drowning in Lobsters

#71

Post by colechristensen »

shoover wrote: post #68
scrollbar wrote: post #3

I'm in the middle of reading Owning Our Future: The Emerging Ownership Revolution by Marjorie Kelly, which talks extensively about Maine lobster fishery rights. Along the sensitive areas of the coast, only owner-operated boats are allowed to fish, and these people must all have certified lobster fishing licenses. Their licensure also gives them voting rights around regulations for lobstering- in a sense, they own the…

Great point about the owner/captain regulation. It seems incredible that the little guys won in this one. Also, chrisbennet's comment reminded me of another piece of the sustainable fishing regulations, which is that the traps are regulated to be inefficient and let the lobsters walk out. As an engineer that is just about more than my mind can handle.

>As an engineer that is just about more than my mind can handle.

Why? It's just engineering to optimize for a bigger system. Set your system boundary too small and you risk damaging the whole. Making a perfect trap is something like premature optimization.

Re: Maine Is Drowning in Lobsters

#72

Post by awkwardtortoise »

shostack wrote: post #2

I for one will do my part to help pick up the slack in demand. While the wholesale price has fluctuated, has there been much change in retail/restaurant lobster prices? I certainly don't see restaurants near me lowering the price of a lobster roll. If anything, looks like Old Port Lobster Shack in Redwood City increased theirs judging by what Google shows in their menu listing for a "Maine Lobster Roll" ($18.75) vs.…

Nope. We get maine lobsters in the NY area and the price has increased in the last few years. Haven't had lobsters because I refuse to pay extortion prices.

Re: Maine Is Drowning in Lobsters

#73

Post by solidsnack9000 »

pash wrote: post #28
scrollbar wrote: post #3

I'm in the middle of reading Owning Our Future: The Emerging Ownership Revolution by Marjorie Kelly, which talks extensively about Maine lobster fishery rights. Along the sensitive areas of the coast, only owner-operated boats are allowed to fish, and these people must all have certified lobster fishing licenses. Their licensure also gives them voting rights around regulations for lobstering- in a sense, they own the…

> Kelly argues that this ownership of the lobstering commons, in a cooperative-like structure, leads to greater sustainability. >> Large corporate boats can operate only in designated areas. Instead of permitting limitless liberty to absentee owners for the seeking of wealth -- by hired hands indifferent to local custom -- Maine set spinning a new governing pattern…. That the right to make a living comes before the r…

You can of course enclose the commons and grant it to one party to manage but then you're not faced with the problem of how to manage a commons anymore!

Re: Maine Is Drowning in Lobsters

#74

Post by dghughes »

From the article it says it's the same in Canada? Lobsters catches are down here in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence this season prices are about $8/pound for markets (big lobsters). Maybe they meant south-west Nova Scotia since it is close to Maine. http://www.seafoodnews.com/Login.aspx?ReturnUrl=/SearchStory...

An interesting point lobsters are supposedly immortal they just keep on going if not caught of course (and if not eaten!).

Also interesting in December 2016 there was a mysterious die off of many types of sea life off south-west Nova Scotia. I guess this didn't affect Maine but I'm not sure if it affected NS since their lobster season is in the fall http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/nova-scotia-dead-h...

Re: Maine Is Drowning in Lobsters

#75

Post by pash »

solidsnack9000 wrote: post #73
pash wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Kelly argues that this ownership of the lobstering commons, in a cooperative-like structure, leads to greater sustainability. >> Large corporate boats can operate only in designated areas. Instead of permitting limitless liberty to absentee owners for the seeking of wealth -- by hired hands indifferent to local custom -- Maine set spinning a new governing pattern…. That the right to make a living comes before the r…

You can of course enclose the commons and grant it to one party to manage but then you're not faced with the problem of how to manage a commons anymore!

Quite right!

Re: Maine Is Drowning in Lobsters

#77

Post by cityhall »

pash wrote: post #28
scrollbar wrote: post #3

I'm in the middle of reading Owning Our Future: The Emerging Ownership Revolution by Marjorie Kelly, which talks extensively about Maine lobster fishery rights. Along the sensitive areas of the coast, only owner-operated boats are allowed to fish, and these people must all have certified lobster fishing licenses. Their licensure also gives them voting rights around regulations for lobstering- in a sense, they own the…

> Kelly argues that this ownership of the lobstering commons, in a cooperative-like structure, leads to greater sustainability. >> Large corporate boats can operate only in designated areas. Instead of permitting limitless liberty to absentee owners for the seeking of wealth -- by hired hands indifferent to local custom -- Maine set spinning a new governing pattern…. That the right to make a living comes before the r…

If we make the same argument in favor of taxi cartels, people see the flaw right away. The system may encourage conservation but that's only one of many side effects and we're glossing over the costs.

Re: Maine Is Drowning in Lobsters

#78

Post by daveslash »

dade_ wrote: post #58

It concerns me that the creatures that devour dead stuff in the ocean are thriving. Is it not a possible explanation that there are a lot more dead animals in the ocean for the lobsters to eat? It wasnt suggested a possible reason in the article.

As someone who grew up in coastal Downeast Maine and has been lobster fishing on multiple occasions, it is my understanding that the lobsters partially feed off the dead herring used as bait. Fresh herring (freshly dead) is used as bait in the traps. Every time the trap is pulled up to check for lobsters (every 1-7 days), the old herring is pulled out of the bait pocket and fresh herring (freshly dead) is put back into the bait pocket. The old herring is tossed overboard where it sinks to the bottom and becomes food for lobsters. In a sense, the fishermen are cultivating the lobsters by feeding them. Here is a photo that I took, while lobster fishing, of herring that was used, pulled out of a bait pocket, and subsequently tossed overboard. Warning: graphic picture of dead fish. https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1120/5100863905_1d9520e7eb_b.j...

Re: Maine Is Drowning in Lobsters

#79

Post by kodfodrasz »

HeyLaughingBoy wrote: post #42
zwieback wrote: post #4

Is the herring they use as bait the same fish I buy in cans or jars in the supermarket? I'd rather eat that than lobster most days.

Yes, as bait fish they're quite easy to catch. Drop a line with a few shiny gold hooks and you'll likely pull it back up with a herring on each hook. For some reason they really like shiny objects. Only problem is they only taste good smoked, and when I had easy access to fishing for herring, I didn't have a smoker :-(

Herring is also delicious when pickled in vinegar with onion, and also in some canned varieties. At least I love it.

Re: Maine Is Drowning in Lobsters

#80

Post by slacka »

If you found this interesting, I highly recommend Frontline's The Fish on My Plate [1]. It chronicles this quirky author's journey into the world of seafood. He does a "Supersize me" like experiment with seafood. I learned a lot and it even inspired me to modify my diet. Mussels not only are delicious, they help clean up the excess runoff from farms.

[1] http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/the-fish-on-my-plate/

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