Results of a lobster survey by the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) in summer 2025 show lobstermen under considerable economic sway.
This first lobster industry survey since 2008 stemmed from the controversial attempt to raise the minimum haul size by 1 1/16th inches.
Of the 4700 commercial license holders, 29% responded to the survey inclusive of 1,300 lobster harvesters and 66 dealers.
301 respondents were in the 60-69 age bracket while 152 were 18-29, the second least represented age.
The central matter was fishery conservation alongside economic issues including rising bait costs, trap reduction and whale regulations.
Regarding whale regulation, the industry is currently using whale traceability systems which it adopted in early 2024. It also awaits a possible 2027 onset of whale-friendly pop-up traps.
According to the press, 60% of respondents actually believe the fishery is steady despite decreasing landing volumes.
However, rising costs of input are forcing fishers to utilize their daily capacity of 800 traps per boat to the maximum.
This is despite suggestions that new regulation could slash traps to 600 per vessel, a move that young fishers oppose.
Still, former industry rep Dave Cousens stressed how trap number reduction could cut costs by 25%. He was speaking at Zone D’s meeting on October 7, 2025.
Maine has seven zones or lobster fishing areas. With reference to the survey, Zone G had the highest response rate at 41.03% but the lowest participants.
Zone A meanwhile scored the second lowest response rate at 27.05% despite having the highest number of respondents.
All seven zones are having different times to digest the results that appeared on the DMR website on September 24.
While zones E, A and G met end September, zones G and D deliberated on October 6 and 7 respectively. Only zones B and F remain, with their respective meetings on schedule October 9 and 15.
During its meeting, zone D felt that industry surveys ought to take place quite often rather than after nearly two decades.
But the bottom line is that the responses seem to support conservation as long as costs and other economic hardships reduce. Lobster prices, interestingly, are only a major concern for 17% of the participants who value other industry topics more. As such, the below statistics track the survey’s results on a topical basis.
Maine Lobster Survey Statistics
Lobster surveys help the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) make decisions that suit the industry on conservation, cost and production matters. During the 2008 Maine lobster survey, the Atlantic states’ lobster catch was at 88.8 million pounds, above 2007’s 81 million pounds. This is according to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASFC). But in the first seven months of 2025, lobster landings in Atlantic states were 37.8% down year-on-year, to 15.5 million pounds. This is why the 2025 survey came at a critical time for the industry. Here are the highlights of its findings in topical approaches:
Conservation. 25% of respondents felt that habitat degradation is an outcome of man made factors such as fishing. This reflects the 9th ventless trap survey in 2008 which had found that 68,082 of 76,000 lobster measurements were sublegal.
Market prices. About 17% of respondents in the 2025 industry survey felt that prices, tariffs or market uncertainty presented some challenges.
Right whale regulations. The protection of the right whale with such means as traceability systems was a great concern for 26% of respondents.
Costs. Costs for fuel, vessels, bait and gear represented the biggest single concern for 32% of some 1300 harvesters.