MAINE PUBLIC • June 24, 2020
Maine's lobstermen, dealers and regulators are warily eyeing the possibility of a market crash when the big seasonal harvest of recently-molted lobsters — called “shedders” — come in. With restaurants and other end-buyers still struggling, there is talk within the industry of reducing the size or timing of the catch to avoid a glut, but no one appears to be enthusiastic about the options. One idea: raise minimum sizes, that is, throw more of the smaller lobsters back to bank them underwater for a time when market demand is better. Other possibilities include requiring that "culls" be thrown back. The theory is that by removing the lower-quality lobsters with just a single claw or no claws at all, the overall product quality increases, and that should help the price.