Because he fishes for lobster year-round in southern Maine, Kittery lobsterman Brad Parady is in a unique position to catch clues of how the state’s lobstering season might shape up. This spring, Parady noticed something very unusual in the lobster he was catching; many of them were shedders.
Often, it’s said, spring lobster caught near the coast is hardshell lobster that escaped the traps the year before. But this May, some 90 percent of Parady’s daily catch was shedders, or lobsters that have shed their old hardshells but have yet to create firm new ones. In southern Maine, shedders usually aren’t seen until June, and they’re not thick until July.
“I really noticed them coming on early,” Parady said.
He’s not alone. Maine lobstering stakeholders confirm that fishermen along some parts of the coast are reporting shedders a good four weeks to six weeks early. If past history is any judge, an early appearance of shedders could bring lower prices.
“We don’t know what the hell [the price] is going to do,” said Pete McAleney, president of the Maine Import-Export Lobster Dealers’ Association. “You’ve got to be very careful.”
An early appearance of shedders could throw a wrench into the pacing of the lobstering season, which normally times nicely with the tourist season to bring optimum prices. Hardshell lobster, which is caught more in the late summer and fall, travels more easily and can be stored longer. Hardshells also have more meat and are more desirable for lobster connoisseurs. Softshell lobster usually comes in the thick of summer, right at the height of Maine’s tourist season. They can’t travel as well and have less meat, but they are often sold right off the boat to tourists or shipped to processors at a lower price.
But this spring, softshell and hardshell are sometimes being sold side by side, which already is making some consumers fume, said McAleney. And because the supply of softshell is spotty, local processors can’t afford to open for the season to process it.
“It’s a marketing nightmare,” he said.
Lobsters time their sheds around water temperature and food supply, said Bob Bayer, executive director of the Lobster Institute at UMaine. Because of the warm winter, water temperatures in the Gulf of Maine were also warmer than usual and food most likely stayed plentiful, meaning some lobster shed early.
Not every lobsterman is catching shedders, however. One harbor may have many softshells while a neighboring harbor might have few to none, said Bayer. It all depends on the microclimate of each part of the coastline.
“Shedders are being caught, but not in massive numbers,” Bayer said.
While this isn’t the first time that shedders have shown up early, this is the earliest appearance Bayer can recall. Two years ago, shedders also came earlier than planned, and it made for a rare season with two cycles of softshell and hardshell lobster. But while it might seem good on paper to have two cycles instead of one, such a changed season can depress prices, said Shelia Dassatt, executive director of the Downeast Lobstermen’s Association.
“The prices weren’t really as high as they could have been,” said Dassatt.
That year, she and her husband, Mike, averaged $4.25 a pound for all their lobster, hard and soft; they were hoping for a $6.00 average. The lowest price they fetched for softshell that year was $2.25. Parady said his softshell lobster is fetching a lower price than it normally would this spring.
McAleney thinks many lobster sellers will try and sell softshell to local markets, perhaps moving the lobster away from the coast where it won’t have to compete with more sought-after hardshell lobster. Barring that, sellers will have to search for processors already up and running, said Bayer.
“They’re always ready in Canada,” Bayer said.