While some of us are celebrating with green beer today, others are celebrating a timely release from their long-suffering prisons made from galvanized wire. Yes--it's Crustacean Liberation Day for hundreds of lobsters in Maine! As the Coast Guard's "Ghost Gear Cleanup" Project is underway early reports show lobsters wriggling out of traps that have long remained on the bottom of the ocean floor.
** Lobstermen, marine patrol join Coast Guard in 'ghost gear' cleanup By Shlomit Auciello | Mar 17, 2011 Penobscot Bay — Owls Head lobstermen Scott Herrick, Donald Williams and Rob McMahan joined Maine Marine Patrol officers Brian Tolman and Matt Sinclair aboard the Coast Guard Buoy Tender Abbie Burgess Monday, March 14 as part of an ongoing effort to retrieve large clusters of lobster gear from the bottom of the sea off the coast of Maine. So-called "ghost gear" can be a hazard to navigation, and often collects in areas that would be otherwise productive lobster bottom. The combined team hauled and sorted 80 lobster traps that had gathered into a series of knotted bunches that Chief Warrant Officer Paul Dupuis, commander of the Abbie Burgess, referred to as a "gaggle." The traps were located at two spots at the bottom of Penobscot Bay between Fisherman Island and Vinalhaven. A third group of sunken traps was not located due to the height of the tide. The collected traps, many of which were on the bottom of Penobscot Bay for at least three years, were identified by their owner's trap tag number and name. The lobstermen planned to take the traps to the Ship to Shore parking lot in Owls Head, where they were to be picked up by their original owners. Tolman said the traps found belonged to Jay Ross, Mike Rogers, Dick Carver, Tim Lindahl, Maynard Curtis, F. J. O'Hara, Rob McMahan, Vance McMahan, Jeff Woodman, Justin Philbrook, Shane Hatch, Jeff Edwards and Matt Mills. Dupuis, referred to the event as "crustacean liberation" day. Lobsters ranging in size from those appearing to weigh as much as three pounds to much smaller examples that some refer to as Matinicus shrimp were all sent back to the bottom of the bay, along with a variety of starfish, crabs and other marine life. Shortly before the Abbie Burgess departed from its wharf, Coast Guard personnel received word that the No. 11 buoy off Monroe Island was no longer showing a beacon. When the Abbie Burgess Coast Guard personnel replaced the beacon and made plans to return later to replace the bell and conduct routine maintenance. For more information about ghost gear recovery efforts, contact the Gulf of Maine Lobster Foundation at gomlf.org or call 985-8088. The Herald Gazette Reporter Shlomit Auciello can be reached at 207-236-8511 or by e-mail at sauciello@villagesoup.com.
1 Comment
An estimated 4,260 lobster fishermen in Maine caught a record number of lobsters this year, (93 million pounds, up from 81 million in 2009) worth $308.7 million. Not since the late 1990s and early 2000s has the state seen this kind of boon.
Scientists are crediting unusually warm water, which allowed lobsters to molt earlier--for an earlier catch in July--a month sooner than usual. An easing of state rules combined with a long-coming lobster population growth also factored in. What lobstermen are saying everywhere, "I had a pretty good year." After recent years, that's fantastic to hear. source: New York Times If this article tells you anything, lobstering is right up there with Alaskan crab fishing as one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. 155 people died in the last decade on commercial fishing vessels nationally. Vessel disasters and crew members falling overboard were the leading causes of fatalities in this latest report. And at the end of this year, we just lost another one of our own Maine lobstermen when he got entangled in lobster line and was pulled overboard.
Maybe what I'm saying is patently obvious, but for so many people who came up this summer to specifically have their Maine lobster, I continue to post stories like these to show you exactly what goes into that steamed crustacean on that plate. It is a backbreaking, perilous profession and the men and women who are born into this life, work at it every day and put their lives at risk for this status symbol dish deserve a little attention for their efforts now and then. Great idea for the holidays! This Chef's Kitchen video shows you how to do up some extra steamed lobster from the night before into a breakfast hash topped with poached eggs.
Watch the video This Thanksgiving and holiday season--it's time to give the poor turkey a breather. It has been the culinary icon of holidays since we were all young enough to maneuver a crayon around all five fingers on construction paper and call it art.
I live in a state where the one culinary icon that symbolizes prosperity--the Maine lobster--is the one export we rely on to get entire communities through our economically stagnant winters. Like everyone else, Mainers are going on Year Three of The Great Recession. In a rural state as ours, where jobs are increasingly scare, it's scary. The boat price of lobsters historically used to be high enough to allow a lobsterman to work hard six or seven months of the year--and sustain him over the course of the winter 'til it was time to start again in the spring. Not in the last couple of years has this boat price per lobster been all that viable. I'm told, however, that this past season was "very good" and that "no one had a reason to complain." But does that mean even a good lobstering season will carry a fisherman financially through the That means the guy who busted his butt all summer and fall to catch lobsters is now prospecting ways to plow driveways for the winter or work part-time in factories or do any kind of odd job he can to pay the bills to get through the winter. It's not an easy or comfortable way to make a living--never was--but lobstering for so many is like farming--it's generationally taught and generationally ingrained. Once you're brought up in this lifestyle, you stick it out--through thick and thin. The Maine lobster is one of the most coveted, succulent products that Maine has to offer, from an industry that was conservation-minded before the concept of a "sustainable food movement" even existed. Even Red Lobster, is rolling out a new marketing angle to let their customers feel as though they are smack dab in the middle of Bar Harbor eating real Maine lobster--and not some rock lobster tails farmed in Malaysia. Though there is not one Red Lobster restaurant located in Maine, they do buy and serve Maine lobster, along with other farmed varieties. Still, if you've tasted the real thing, culled from the coldest, cleanest ocean waters in the U.S., you will know why Maine lobster has earned its incontestable reputation. So this holiday season, I'm making the case for Maine lobster and butter over turkey and giblets. (Go for the Maine crab and Maine shrimp while you're at it.) Some of my picks for the best places to buy lobster locally as well as to export to friends and family as gifts are as follows.
Feel free to comment on The Ghost Trap's Facebook page for places you recommend as well (I'm mostly listing Midcoast Maine). Let's keep this momentum going. Next post? Best original lobster recipes to use this holiday season. The Top Ten Most Entertaining Questions Tourists Have Asked On SchoonersThis past summer I spent some time with the schooner bums down on the Camden wharf and collected a few of the best questions tourists have ever asked. None of these have been made up. They are actual questions.
1. “How do you get the boats to all point in the same direction?” 2. “What do you do with the islands in the winter?” 3. “How many sunset sails do you do in a day?” 4. “How long is your two-hour tour?” 5. (Pointing to the mainland, from where they’d just sailed out of.) “What town is that?” 6. “What time are we going to get to see the whales?” 7. “What’s the difference between salt water and fresh water?” 8. “Is this an island surrounded by water?” 9. (To a 25-year-old deck hand after a tourist asked how old she was) “Were you on the maiden voyage of 1978?” 10. (After taking pictures of the passengers and announcing that the pictures would be available at the souvenir store on the wharf.) “How will we know which photos are ours?” Bonus question because it was too good to leave off the list. And because this is a line also featured in The Ghost Trap. “What time of year do the deer turn into moose?” Four more great expressions from the winner of our contest, Hal Learnard!
(Hmm these have quite the angle on the ladies. Do we have any good ones we can throw back to the gents?) While discussing someone who is sick, hungover or exceptionally pale; His eyes were like two piss holes in the snow! While observing a well endowed young lady bouncing around without the support of a bra; Gawd ! Ain't she all adrift. While discussing a lady of dubious virtue; She's definitely T M U ---True Mileage Unknown ! While discussing a lady of sizable girth; She measures 4 by 4 , whichever way you read your tape. Congrats to Hal Learnard of Washburn, ME! In our "Best Maine Expression" contest, he won the most votes with his old-time saying:
HE'S LIKE THE BUTTON ON THE BACKHOUSE DOOR, HE'S BEEN AROUND A LOT!!!! Now if you didn't quite get what that means (and I have to admit, I was stumped) here's Hal's explanation: The expression comes from the LOCK on the old time out house. The door swings out and when closed it is held in the lock position by a short slat with a nail in the middle. When you turn the slat (button) AROUND one way (horizontal) it holds the door against the frame. Turn the BUTTON AROUND to the vertical position and it allows the door to open. Hence : the lock gets turned around a great deal. Get it? Ha ha ha!! Anyway, congrats to Hal who gets a personalized copy of The Ghost Trap sent to him today and thanks to everyone else who put in some mighty choice expressions, some of which I'll list here. Some others were just too dirty--(but freakin' funny) to print! “Give ’er tha dinnah, guy.” Usually chanted while someone is doing something stupid and show offy in a big, muddy truck. “She's got a wicked nice body but looks like someone took a clam rake to her face” Being a parent: “if you can’t feed em, don't breed em.” "It’s blowin’ like a whore at a Legionairs convention…." " Jeeh-zus, I wus sweatin hahda than a two dollah whore on fitty cent nite." How much a girl weighs: "She’s four ax-handles cross the width guy, guy!!!" How to console someone: "Get a couplah Bud poundahs in ya and you’ll be alright there, guy." On someone's intelligence "Oh that guy? He’s nummah than a hake." When your truck won't work. "What’s wrong? Is it all stove up?" When you see someone you think you know: "Hey, wasn’t you the blueberry princess? Was that you up to Walmahts?" When something goes wicked fast: “It’s like sh** through a tin horn” How big is her ass? “She’s got the ass the size of a $2 mule’s” The way Mainers comment on anything: "Christ, bub. Jeezum, guy." If you weren't born in Maine: "Just because your cat has her kittens in the oven don’t mean you can call ’em biscuits." On being scared: "Shaking hardah than a dog sh****n’ razor blades…guy.” The all-time classic: “Hahd tellin’, not knowin’.” How did you get so drunk? "Well I was “bailin it right to me.” On the proper way to say Bangor “Banger – I didn’t even know her” Spread this list through Facebook and feel free to add more! Hear a clip from Bob Marley to get primed for a classic Maine saying. “Give ’er tha dinnah, guy” Usually chanted while someone is doing something stupid and show offy in a big, muddy truck. ** It’s blowin’ like a whore at a Legionairs convention…. (when a Noreaster comes in.) ** (On the way a Maine girl looks.) “Shes got a wicked nice body but looks like someone took a clam rake to her face.” I burst out laughing at a few of these that were submitted in The Ghost Trap's first contest (ending Sept 30). The winner will be determined by public vote so if you want to see some colorful expressions (some I can't even print here) vote now. What the contest is about. One of the best parts about writing The Ghost Trap was gathering some of the funniest, wittiest backwoods Maine expressions to go into the book such as "that'll skittle yer dillet." If you've got a great Maine expression or saying and want to win a personalized signed copy of The Ghost Trap, post it here and you just might win! Rules: You must be 18 to enter the contest. While “colorful” language is inevitably part of this contest, anything that is considered overly vulgar, racist, misanthropic or bashes anyone’s gender, sexual preference, racial background or otherwise will be prohibited. You must be a fan of The Ghost Trap on Facebook to win. Contest is only open to one entry per person. So make it count! As promised, I will continue to feature the more fascinating Maine lobstermen that keep this industry alive and well. Meet Ginny Oliver. She'll give your grammy a run for her money. Story courtesy of The Free Press.
|
Author
Columns and news about the subculture of Maine lobstering. Archives
February 2024
Categories
All
|