Abstract
Marine fisheries are in a state of crisis. One of the few successfully managed fisheries is the Maine lobster industry where catches are at an all time high. An important factor in this success is the effectiveness of regulations which were developed during three periods over the course of the past 125 years. In all cases, the regulations are the result of heavy lobbying activity by various factions in the industry. Both strong commercial rivalry and genuine concern for the well-being of the lobster resource played a role in generating these regulations. However, history did not repeat itself. In each period, the players, circumstances, and goals were very different. The result, however, is a set of effective regulations which are largely self-enforcing.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Acheson, J. M. (1975). Fisheries management and social context: The case of the Maine lobster fishery. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 104(4): 653–668.
Acheson, J. M. (1988). The Lobster Gangs of Maine. University Press of New England, Hanover, NH.
Acheson, J. M. (1992). Maine lobster industry. In Glantz, M. H. (ed.), Climate Variability, Climate Change and Fisheries. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 147–165.
Acheson, J. M. (1996). The Role of Management in the Renewal of the Maine Lobster Industry (unpublished ms.).
Acheson, J. M., and Steneck, R. S. (1996). Bust and then Boom in the Maine Lobster Industry (unpublished ms.).
Acheson, J. M., and Wilson, J. A. (1996). Order out of chaos: The case for parametric management. American Anthropologist 98(3): 579–594.
Alden, R. (1989). Lobster industry: Adapting to meet the challenges of the 1990's. Commercial Fisheries News, April, p. 6.
Allen, D. (1986). The great gauge debate continues. Commercial Fisheries News, January, p. 7.
Bayer, R., Daniel, P. C., and Vaitones, S. (1985). Preliminary estimate of contributions of V-notched American lobsters to egg production along coastal Maine based on Maine Lobsterman's Association V-notch survey: 1981–1984. Bulletin of the Department of Animal and Veterinary Sciences. University of Maine, Orono, ME.
Billings, B. (1985). Will trap tags work? Commercial Fisheries News, June, p. 42.
Blackmore, E. (1987). Personal communication.
Botsford, L. W., Wilen, J. E., and Richardson, E. J. (1986). Biological and Economic Analysis of Lobster Fishery Policy in Maine. Report submitted to the Department of Marine Resources and the Maine Legislature (unpublished ms.).
Clifford, H. (1961). The Boothbay Region: 1906–1960. The Cumberland Press, Freeport, ME.
Clifford, H. (1974). Charlie York: Maine Coast Fisherman. International Marine Publishing Company, Camden, ME.
Cobb, J. N. (1901). The lobster fishery of Maine. In Bulletin of the United States Fish Commission (Vol. XIX for 1899). U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., pp. 241–265.
Commercial Fisheries News (1985). No holds barred in lobbying effort: Lobster sizes down to the wire. Commercial Fisheries News, June, p. 39.
Commercial Fisheries News (1987a). Lobster amendment set for council vote. Commercial Fisheries News, June, p. 29.
Commercial Fisheries News (1987b). Lobster plan amendment receives approval. Commercial Fisheries News, November, p. 24.
Commercial Fisheries News (1989). Gauge tools and gauge increases: Inshore lobstering reaches winter hiatus. Commercial Fisheries News, February, p. 22.
Correspondence of the Commissioner of Sea and Shore Fisheries (1930–1934). Maine State Archives, Augusta, Maine (correspondence is filed by date): (1931a). Zenas Howe to Horatio Crie, November 20, 1931; (1931b). Henry J. Flint to Horatio Crie, July 13, 1931; (1931c). Vernon Gould to Horatio Crie, February 16, 1931; (1931d). Llewellyn Crowley to Horatio Crie, February 2, 1931; (1931e). Horatio Crie to U.S. Senator Wallace White, December 9, 1931; (1931f). Draft of Speech Given by Horatio Crie (in folder for January 3, 1931); (1932a) Horatio Crie to Walter H. Donnell, March 19, 1932; (1932b). Judge William Whiting to Horatio Crie, June 16, 1932; (1932c). S. E. Peabody from Horatio Crie, December 30, 1932; (1932d). Howard F. Burdick from Horatio Crie, November 21, 1932; (1933a). J. M. Jasper to Horatio Crie, May 1, 1933; (1933b). Horatio Crie to U. S. Representative E. C. Moran, May 31, 1933; (1933c). Horatio Crie to Russell Turner, September 23, 1933; (1933d). U.S. Rep. Edward Moran to Horatio Crie, May 17, 1933; (1933e). U.S. Rep. Edward Moran to Horatio Crie, April 10, 1933; (1933f). Horatio Crie to U.S. Senator Wallace White, February 8, 1933; (1933g). Horatio Crie to Alton Dobbins, December 16, 1933; (1933h). C. S. Beale to Horatio Crie, March 11, 1933; (1933i). American Lobster Company to Horatio Crie, January 28, 1933; (1933j). F. E. Peabody to Crie, February 27, 1933; (1934a). William Colson to Horatio Crie, (no date); (1934b). Horatio Crie to Joseph Wallace (telegram in box 54, no date, probably April or May).
Cousins, D. (1995). Personal communication.
Crie, H. (1931). Letter from Director H. D. Crie of the Maine Fisheries Commission. Atlantic Fisherman, November, p. 26.
Crie, H. (1933). Speech to the Honorable Sea and Shore Fisheries Committee, Maine Legislature (typed manuscript). Correspondence of the Commissioner of Sea and Shore Fisheries, December 11, Maine State Archives, Augusta, ME.
Dewar, M. (1983). Industry in Trouble: The Federal Government and the New England Fisheries. Temple University Press, Philadelphia, PA.
Elton, A. (1932). Maine representatives introduce bill to regulate lobster shipments. Atlantic Fisherman, January, p. 4.
Elton, A. (1933a). Maine lobster law remains unchanged. Atlantic Fisherman, March, p. 8.
Elton, A. (1933b). Maine lobster fishermen polled for views: Asked whether they favor present law, nine inch law, or double gauge. Atlantic Fisherman, February, p. 9.
Elton, A. (1934). Double gauge law passed. Atlantic Fisherman, January, p. 7.
Ensminger, J. (1992). Making a Market: The Institutional Transformation of an African Society. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Herrick, F. H. (1909). Natural history of the American lobster. Bulletin of the Bureau of Fisheries, Vol. XXIX, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., pp. 153–440.
Jones, S. (1985a). Lobstermen endorse more than 1 vent for wire traps. Maine Commercial Fisherman, May, p. 12.
Jones, S. (1985b). “O-Kay” to sell V-notched males. Commercial Fisheries News, August.
Judd, R. W. (1988). Saving the fisherman as well as the fish: Conservation and commercial rivalry in Maine's lobster industry: 1872–1933. Business History Review 62: 596–625.
Kelly, K. H. (1992). A summary of Maine lobster laws and regulations: 1820–1992. Lobster Informational Leaflet # 19. Maine Department of Marine Resources, Augusta, ME.
Knight, J. (1992). Institutions and Social Conflict. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Krouse, J. S. (1973). Maturity, sex ratio and size composition of the natural population of American lobster, Homarus americanus, along the Maine coast. Fishery Bulletin 71(1): 165–173.
Laws of Maine (1874). Chapter 210, An Act for the Better Protection of Lobsters in the Waters of Maine. Office of the Secretary of State, Augusta, ME, pp. 146–147.
Laws of Maine (1879). Chapter 96, An Act for the Protection of Lobsters. Office of the Secretary of State, Augusta, ME, p. 114.
Laws of Maine (1883). Chapter 138, An Act for the Protection of Lobsters. Office of the Secretary of State, Augusta, ME, pp. 115–116.
Laws of Maine (1889). Chapter 292, An Act for the Regulation of the Lobster Industry. Office of the Secretary of State, Augusta, ME, pp. 258–268.
Laws of Maine (1907). Chapter 49, An Act to Amend Section Seventeen of Chapter Forty-one of the Revised Statutes Relating to Measurement of Lobsters, Augusta, ME.
Laws of Maine (1995). Public Law 468, An Act to Establish a Management Framework for the Lobster Fishery Within State Waters, Augusta, ME.
Legislative Document 503 (1935). House, February 12, 1935, An Act Relating to Measurement of Lobsters, Augusta, ME.
Legislative Record (1933). House, December 15, pp. 152–153; Senate, December 15, pp. 107, 111; House, December 16, pp. 197, 199, 204–205, Augusta, ME.
Maine Department of Marine Resources (1995). Summary of the Maine Lobster Fishery. Maine Department of Marine Resources, Augusta, ME.
Martin, K., and Lipfert, N. (1985). Lobstering and the Maine Coast. Maine Maritime Museum, Bath, ME.
Mattocks, L. (n.d.). Looking backwards: Memories from the life of Luther Mattocks. Typescript, Special Collections, Folger Library, University of Maine, Orono, ME.
McFarland, R. (1911). A History of the New England Fisheries. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, PA.
Morrison, S. (1985). No decisions yet on controversial lobster proposals. Commercial Fisheries News, May, p. 43.
Northeast Marine Fishery Board (1978). American Lobster Fishery Management Plan. Northeast Marine Fishery Board, Gloucester, MA.
Plante, J. (1986). Legislative committee supports gauge hike, tied to the V-notch. Commercial Fisheries News, April, p. 19.
Plante, J. (1989). Scientists question Maine lobster researcher. Commercial Fisheries News, July, p. 7.
Plante, J. (1991). Charge to lobster industry: Reach consensus. Commercial Fisheries News, June, p. 18a.
Plante, J. (1993). Fox agrees to bankroll lobster amendment. Commercial Fisheries News, January, p. 1a.
Plante, J. (1995a). Lobster plan hits snag; Council delays action. Commercial Fisheries News, June, p. 11A.
Plante, J. (1995b). Lobster amendment falters: NMFS to solicit comments on plan withdrawal. Commercial Fisheries News, September, p. 1.
Portland Sunday Telegram (1933). Machiasport lobster fishermen in favor of double gauge law. Portland Sunday Telegram, Section A, December 31, 1933, p. 2.
Private and Special Laws of Maine (1933). Chapter 294, An Act Relating to Measurement of Lobsters. Augusta, ME.
Rathbun, R. (1887). The lobster fishery. In Goode, G. B. (ed.), The Fisheries and Fishery Industries of the Untied States, Section V. History and Methods of the Fisheries (Vol. II). U.S. government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., pp. 658–794.
Rosen, R. (1995). Advocacy for fishery professionals. Fisheries 20(7): 4.
Scattergood, L. (1996). Personal communication.
Sonnenberg, L. (1991a). New York holds at 3 1/4″: Connecticut considering following suit. Commercial Fisheries News, August, p. 29a.
Sonnenberg, L. (1991b). Maine lobster gauge bill moving, scallops on hold. Commercial Fisheries News, March, p. 22a.
Stecklow, S. (1991). Lobster scientists in over their heads. Lewiston Sun-Journal, September 16, 1991, pp. 17–18.
Steneck, R. S. (1989). Ecological Considerations on Increasing the Minimum Legal Size of Lobsters. Summary paper sent to the New England Regional Council in support of Amendment Five of the American Lobster Plan.
Thomas, J. (1973). An analysis of the commercial lobster (Homarus americanus) fishery along the coast of Maine, August 1966–December 1970. NOAA Technical Report SSRF-667, National Marine Fisheries Service, U.S. Department of Commerce Publication, Seattle, WA.
Waddy, S., and Aiken, D. (1985). Proceedings of the Lobster Recruitment Workshop. Huntsman Laboratory, Saint Andrews, N.B.
White, P. (1995). Personal communication.
Wilson, J. A. (1994). Self-governance in the Maine lobster fishery. In Gimbel, K. L. (ed.), Limiting Access to Marine Fisheries: Keeping the Focus on Conservation. Center for Marine Conservation and the World Wildlife Fund, Washington, D.C.
Wilson, J. A. (1995). Personal communication.
Wilson, J. A., and Acheson, J. M. (1994). Chaos, complexity and community management of fisheries. Marine Policy 18(4): 291–305.
Wilson, J. A., Steneck, R. S., and Acheson, J. M. (1993). Section 3, Management Alternatives of Amendment #5 to the American Lobster Fishery Management Plan. Unpublished manuscript submitted to the New England Fishery Management Council May 18, 1993.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Acheson, J.M. The Politics of Managing the Maine Lobster Industry: 1860 to the Present. Human Ecology 25, 3–27 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021979718461
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021979718461