Maine’s lobster catch reached a record 93.4 million pounds in 2010, according to preliminary figures released on Sunday by the Maine Department of Marine Resource. That’s up about 12 million pounds from the previous record of 81 million pounds in 2009.
At USD 308.7 million, the value of the state’s lobster catch was the third-highest on record. The record came in 2005, when the harvest was worth USD 317.9 million.
In a sign that lobster prices are recovering from the financial collapse of late 2008 when they hit historic lows, Maine lobstermen averaged USD 3.31 a pound for their catch last year, up 14 percent from the prevoius year. In 2009, lobstermen averaged 2.93 a pound, the lowest total since 1998.
In terms of value, lobster represents nearly 70 percent of Maine’s total seafood catch, which hit USD 448 million in 2010.
Maine repserents the bulk of New England’s lobster harvest.
