When the price lobstermen were paid for their catch collapsed in October, communities along the coast stepped forward to help. A lobster sale was held by Penobscot East Resource Center to raise awareness of the crisis in Stonington. A group of St. George residents held a Buy Lobster Day on Oct. 23. And in Rockland, Heidi Stevens, co-owner of By George Jewelers, organized a lobster raffle. She signed up 33 Rockland businesses that each bought at least 10 lobsters and raffled off the lobsters off on Oct. 25. Damariscotta Hardware bought 700 pounds of lobster to give way to customers on Nov. 1.
These and numerous other community events are helping lobstermen sell their catch at a time with demand is low.
Times are bad now, but it could get even tougher this winter. Recently, lobstermen have counted on fall fishing for over 60 percent of annual income. This crisis, which led to a significant loss of income, means some fishermen may not be able to keep up with their boat payments.
Lobstermen are going to need help with their boat loans. They will also need help with home and truck loans. Starting in late October, officials from the departments of Marine Resources and Economic and Community Development and state business agencies will be meeting with the seven Lobster Zone Councils. Local bankers are being encouraged to attend these meetings.
Officials are talking about ways to restructure boat loans. “We are in communication with a number of different groups and agencies to try and figure out how we can best help the bank and their customers,” said Charlie Emmons, senior commercial loan officer for the Finance Authority of Maine (FAME).
State officials, local banks, FAME and the federal Small Business Administration are working to come up with a plan so that the state can help lobstermen, Emmons said. Regulations prevent banks from restructuring loans on their own, so help does have to come from a state or federal authority. What FAME could do would be to provide loan insurance for banks, to allow them to restructure the loans. “We want to keep him in his boat,” said Emmons.
Times are tough for everyone. It won’t get any better if lobstermen end up losing their boats because of market forces beyond their control. It is just one solution to this current crisis, but it would help take care of many lobstermen’s most immediate worry-whether they will still have a boat to go fishing in next spring.