MAINE MORNING STAR • January 6, 2025
The threat of climate change and more restrictive right whale protections – as well as several years of more modest landing totals – have some in the lobster industry second-guessing their future in the business, yielding subtle, but real, changes in the makeup of the fishery. “There are fewer variable professional fishermen than there were 20 years ago, but there are more fishermen fishing full-time, offshore,” said Theresa Burnham, a postdoctoral research associate with the University of Maine. “Licenses overall are decreasing over time, as well. So the question is: Who is remaining?” Burnham is one of a handful of researchers looking at social indicators related to the lobster fishing industry for clues as to how the fishery is changing and what those changes might mean for the broader economy.