A lobster fisherman drops an undersized lobster into the water while fishing off Kennebunkport in 2022. Robert F. Bukaty/Associated Press, file

ROCKPORT — Maine lobstermen raked in $464 million at the docks last year, rebounding from the worst year the fishery had seen in a decade, according to the annual report released Friday by the Maine Department of Marine Resources.

The increase in the value of Maine’s famed fishery comes even as lobstermen reported the smallest catch in 15 years, at 94 million pounds. The jump in value was partly due to the second-highest boat price on record, $4.95 per pound.

The dwindling number of landings isn’t necessarily a surprise, though. State officials and members of the lobstering community say the decrease reflects the impacts of high costs of operating the fishery last year. And the dip in poundage indicates how lobstermen navigated the challenging obstacles.

“Fishermen are now very strategic about how they fish. Expenses are through the roof, so you can’t afford to be out if you’re not making money,” said Patrice McCarron, a lobsterman and policy director with the Maine Lobstermen’s Association. “That causes the number of trips to go down and is going impact the amount of lobster that we all brought in.”

Amid mounting costs, the size of lobstermen’s 2023 catch was actually rather predictable, McCarron said at the Maine Fishermen’s Forum in Rockport on Friday.

Ethan Turner, a Stonington lobsterman, said the costs for bait, fuel, repairs and traps have all soared in the last few years. He estimates his bait has increased by 33%.

“Everything we need to do our business has gotten more expensive,” Turner said.

And his catch was slightly down last year.

Craig Stewart, who has lobstered on Casco Bay for 35 years, said that he paid $30,000 to $40,000 for fuel last season. In the mid-2000s, he paid $10,000 each season.

Weighing the time against the payoff is something Turner, the vice president of the Downeast Lobstermen’s Association, also had to do.

“It already costs a lot to go out on the water every day. Prices going up makes it hard to decide whether you can even go on,” he said.

Turner ultimately didn’t take fewer trips, but his catch was still slightly down last year because of what he was finding in his traps: smaller lobsters, inedible lobsters and breeding lobsters.

Stewart operated on a normal schedule and powered through the season. Alongside suspicions that the boat price would recover, he figured any extra bit of money could help. Plus, he could cut costs with a fuel-efficient boat. But Stewart said other lobstermen battling the rising costs were even more deterred by the lows of 2022.

“I think the trend was: when the price did drop, a lot of people stopped working as hard,” Stewart said. “More people took time off this past year.”

MAKING MORE WITH LESS

The state agency said the jump in value was in part because of higher boat prices. Lobstermen were paid an average $4.95 per pound at the docks. The 2023 market was a bounce back from 2022, when the state of the economy dragged the price of lobster down to $3.97 per pound.

In previous years, even when the industry has boomed, lobstermen say they haven’t always seen the trickle-down effects of its success.

“That was a really meaningful rebound in the price – it was fantastic news,” McCarron said.

Patrick Keliher said the annual report, released every year on the second day of the fishermen’s forum, had some wins and some losses.

“My focus is always on the landings side,” Keliher said. “But just because landings are down does not mean this is bad news. Demand is up. And when I was a kid, landings were only 20 million pounds.”

Even so, lobstermen didn’t feel like the profits were anything to rave about. The annual value still fell far below the 2021 catch, when lobstermen shattered the previous record with a $725 million haul.

“Last season seemed to work out for me,” said Stewart, the Casco Bay lobsterman. “But it wasn’t a banner year.”

The landings in Maine’s eight coastal counties fell in line with historical trends. Hancock County again ranked No. 1, with lobstermen catching 28 million pounds for $140.8 million. Knox County, with five of the top 10 fishing ports, came in second, with 24.6 million pounds of catch worth $128 million.

IN OTHER FISHERIES BUSINESS

Maine fishermen at large earned $611 million in 2023, a 4% increase from 2022. It’s nowhere near the boom of 2021, when the state’s fisheries earned a record $908 million, but the catch is in line with recent trends.

Stonington was the state’s most valuable port, with local fishermen earning $47.9 million for 11.4 million pounds of fish. Portland caught 14 million pounds, but was only the state’s fourth most valuable, with a catch worth $23.4 million.

Elvers came in as the second most valuable fishery in Maine. Fishermen who drew up the juvenile eels earned $2,009 per pound for a total of $19.5 million, the Department of Marine Resources said.

The price of Maine elvers dropped for the first time since 2020, but it’s still on par with the skyrocketing demand for the fishery.

Softshell clam diggers earned $13.9 million and Maine oyster harvesters earned $11 million.