As it tries to reclaim Maine lobster brand, Trenton co-op adds 'Fair Trade' label
Courtesy / Lobster 207
Seen here is Local 207’s dock in Lamoine. The co-op recently received Fair Trade certification, expected to boost its brand.
Lobster 207, the only union-based lobster cooperative in North America, was awarded Fair Trade Certification by Fair Trade USA earlier this month.
Lobster 207, based in Trenton, is the only lobster group in the world to earn the designation, according to a news release.
The certification means Lobster 207 can now sell its lobsters with the Fair Trade seal, which indicates that the union’s lobstermen have met rigorous standards for environmental stewardship, social responsibility and fair labor practices.
“This pioneers a whole new chapter of lobster fishing in Maine,” Mike Yohe, CEO of Lobster 207, told Mainebiz.
The certification also allows Lobster 207’s catch to be sold with the “Fair Trade Premium,” through which a percentage of sales goes into a community development fund to improve the livelihoods of lobstermen and their families, he said.
The Maine Lobstering Union was formed in 2013 as a division of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, the union that also represents workers at Bath Iron Works.
Today, the union has about 200 members.
In 2015, the Maine Lobstering Union formed Lobster 207 as the union’s wholesale and retail business. Lobster 207 is owned and operated by Maine lobstermen.
In 2017, Lobster 207 bought the wholesale division of Trenton Bridge Lobster Pound and renamed it Lobster 207. The wholesale facilities are located in Lamoine.
In December 2019, Lobster 207 sued its former CEO, Warren B. Pettegrow of Trenton, over allegations of racketeering. Also named as defendants were Pettegrow's company, Poseidon Charters Inc., Anthony D. and Josette G. Pettegrow of Trenton and their company Trenton Bridge Lobster Pound Inc., and Stephen M. Peabody of Addison.
Yohe said he could not comment on the litigation.
‘Boston’ lobster
Yohe was named Lobster 207’s CEO in March 2019, after serving as the director of business development for two years.
The union was formed in response to lobster prices that were crashing in 2012, he said. At the time, lobstermen received $1.25 per pound for lobster, not enough to pay for fuel. The reasoning behind forming a union was that it would have bargaining power to negotiate higher prices.
“The ultimate goal was to put more money in fishermen’s pockets,” explained Yohe.
Prices went back up. But as director of business development, he found that consumers generally didn’t know the story behind lobstermen’s role in maintaining a sustainable fishery.
“The fishermen are stewards of the sea,” he said. “They do the right thing when they’re out there. But I was finding the general public did not know that.”
While meeting with potential buyers in other countries, he said, he also found that many referred to Maine lobster as “Boston lobster.”
“They knew the port that it shipped from,” he said. “I said, ‘This is crazy.’”
So to boost recognition of Maine lobster’s origin and sustainability, he began exploring Fair Trade Certification about a year ago.
“I was trying to figure out different ways to set ourselves apart from everyone else,” he said.
Conscious consumerism
The certification will help empower fishermen, he said.
“The key to Fair Trade is the rise of ‘conscious consumerism,’” he said. “There’s an emergence of a new mentality in how people shop. They want to know where their food is coming from. This certification is our proof that we are doing what we say we’re doing.”
The certification will be branded on Lobster 207 products, starting with live lobster, he said. This week, Lobster 207 is scheduled to meet with its boxing company to add a Fair Trade logo, he said. The logo has also begun to appear on the co-op’s website.
“We’re working with our packing crew on the way this is going to flow,” he said. “We shipped 136 units out for Valentine’s Day that were all Fair Trade.”
In Maine, lobster distributors that work directly with Lobster 207 said the Fair Trade certification will boost the brand and will bring a premium for some buyers.
Get Maine Lobster, an online retailer of Maine lobster, has been working with Lobster 207 since 2017. The company said it believes the certification will open a new customer base for its business.
“We will be launching specific product lines of Fair Trade certified products which will appeal to new customers who want the authentic Maine lobster experience shipped to their homes,” Mark Murrell, CEO of Get Maine Lobster, said in the release.
Since the Fair Trade Seafood program started, fishermen have earned over $1 million in community development funds on top of the price of their catch, Rui Bing Zheng, Fair Trade USA’s senior producer services manager, said in the release.
“These funds have been reinvested back into local communities through environmental programs, improvements to schools and local centers, and other projects that directly address community needs," Zheng said.
Nationally, more than 20 retailers buy and promote Fair Trade certified seafood products, including Whole Foods Market and Safeway.
New management
Lobster 207 also announced this month the completion of its new management structure.
Carmen M. Look was named Lobster 207’s chief financial officer. Look has more than two decades of accounting, finance and tax experience in both the private and public sector with many years of work devoted to the lobster industry.
Brian Hemingway as named Lobster 207’s director of business development. He has more than a decade sales experience in the food distribution industry specializing in grocery, a market that Lobster 207 has positioned itself to enter in 2020.
Yohe said Hemingway is working on opening new retail outlets, including grocery chains, for Fair Trade lobster.
New buying station
Another recent development has been Lobster 207’s acquisition, in a lease-to-purchase arrangement, of a dock in Jonesport to serve as a buying station. The dock is owned by wholesaler Beal’s Lobster Co. The Beal family wanted to step back from operations, Yohe said. The founder of the company, Benny Beal, is well-known in the area, he said.
“Our goal is to keep the Beal family’s legacy intact,” he said. “It will be the Lobster 207 buying station, but the dock will always have the Beal name attached to it.”
Lobster 207 is working now on plans for the dock after finalizing the deal earlier this month. Product coming over the dock in the upcoming season will go into the Fair Trade market, he added.
Lobster 207 buys from both union ad non-union members. The Lamoine operation consists of a lobster pound, land, trucks and equipment. In 2019, the co-op sold 14 million pounds of lobster. The co-op buys lobster throughout the state, including Stonington, Portland, Vinalhaven and other docks in Jonesport.
“We’re really excited about the future,” said Yohe. “We are not looking back. We’re looking forward.”
Fair Trade certified lobster is available on the Lobster 207 website.
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