Where's Your "Maine" Lobster Really From?

November issue of
The Working Waterfront.

Some of you may have read John McPhee's article on the United Parcel Service in The New Yorker last spring. If you did, you'll remember the way the article opened, with a trademark McPhee description of how thousands of lobsters are sorted and held for shipment at a giant Clearwater Seafood processing facility in Nova Scotia, Canada.

In fact, most Maine lobster now comes to consumers via Canada. According to an article in last month's issue of The Working Waterfront, a monthly newspaper published by the Island Institute in Rockland, Maine, "as much as 70 percent of lobsters landed in Maine are heading to Canada, where they are being processed and shipped back to the U.S. as Canadian product." You can read this interesting article here.

Also, in the December issue of The Working Waterfront there is a follow-up article on Maine's efforts to combat the weakening of Maine's "lobster brand," including efforts to get Maine lobsters officially certified; you can read that article here.