“Although the process is far more complicated, simply put: we were too high for the buyers and too low for the fishermen,” said Corea Co-op manager Dwight Rodgers,
explaining why lobstermen who sell to the co-op went on strike at the end of August. He said one of his most reliable fishermen told him that two years ago the boat price was 18 percent higher and the fuel price, 17 percent lower.
Every summer when the catch is mostly made up of shedders, or “new shell” lobster, and landings go up, the price paid to fishermen or “the boats” goes down. It’s that old seesaw of supply and demand.
Fishermen were fed up with not being paid enough for the fewer than usual lobster they landed this summer, exacerbated by a headline in the Ellsworth American announcing a retail lobster price of $9 per lb. Add to that the frustration of having to cope with whale conservation regulations that told fishermen when and where they could use floating rope. Upon hearing that the price they were being paid for shedders had dropped 20 cents from $3.85 to $3.65 per lb., fishermen from Prospect Harbor east decided they’d had enough.
Vinalhaven fisherman Walter Day, who also tied up his boat, asked, “Who sets the price and why is the price dictated to the fishermen by bait dealers, fuel companies, fishing suppliers, and the price for lobsters is dictated by the buyer? We have no say on either end.”
By 10 a.m. on Aug. 20, every boat that sells to the Corea Co-operative was on its mooring. Fishermen from Prospect Harbor on east, as soon as they heard about the tie-up, participated in the strike. The news was all over radio and television.
By Aug. 22, 80 percent or better of Jonesport co-op members went out fishing. At Milbridge, 75 percent went out. Corea fishermen were all tied up. Prospect Harbor, except for three or four fishermen, had tied up. All the Winter Harbor co-op fishermen went out. All the Cranberry Isles Co-op fishermen were tied up. At Southwest Harbor, most were tied up; the rest of Mount Desert’s fishermen were 50 percent in and 50 percent out. Only a couple of Vinalhaven co-op fishermen went out; the rest stayed tied up. About 75 percent of Stonington co-op fishermen were tied up. Swan’s Island co-op fishermen were pretty much tied up. Close to all Spruce Head co-op fishermen went out. All the co-op members at Pemaquid, South Bristol, and New Harbor were tied up. Round Pond and Bremen fishermen tied up. Part of Boothbay’s fishermen tied up.
By Aug. 23, the Corea co-op paid the boats $3.75/lb, though the manager said, “I didn’t get my full spread.” That meant the money would come out of the year-end bonus. Cranberry Isles paid the boats $3.75/lb. At Spruce Head, Atwood’s buyer paid the boats that sold to Atwood $3.25/lb plus a 25-cent/lb. bonus. He paid the other docks he buys from $3.25/lb. and the dock 75ยข/lb., which the docks could spend any way they chose. Stonington continued to pay $3.50/lb. Harrington buyer Bruce Portrie had to raise his price to $3.75/lb. plus a 50-cent/lb. bonus to try to get back his fishermen who had gravitated to Stuart Crosby, in the same harbor, who was paying $3.75/lb. plus a 50-cent/lb. bonus.
By Friday, Aug. 24, all the co-op members at Pemaquid, South Bristol and New Harbor were tied up and threatened to remain so until Aug. 27. Stonington fishermen went out.
Lobster pounds were full. Processors in Maine and Canada, which absorb 60 to 70 percent of the shedders that come on the market during shedder season, were filling up. They held the power. Dealers who sell to the processors, although they understood the problems fishermen faced, would not pay the higher prices. Everybody recognized that processors wanted to pay $4.25/lb. To reach that $4.25, which included all the buyers’ commissions, the process had to start with a boat, or shore, price of from $3.25 to $3.50/lb.
Boston Lobster’s Neil Zarella, a major dealer, explained, “The overall live market has been very difficult since early spring’s high prices. This may have affected the summer market, and, unfortunately, the only thing that can jump-start the market is lower prices,” he said. “This is a sad fact, but usually once the market finds the right level, it tends to rise again due to demand. Clearly, fishermen felt they were not making enough money, but the question remained unanswered: What did fishermen want out of this strike?”