Lobster harvest tops 100 million pounds
State officials on Thursday confirmed a record 103.9-million-pound lobster catch in 2011, which helped Maine fishermen bring in nearly 280 million pounds of seafood and bait last year.
For the first time, Maine lobstermen brought in more than 100 million pounds, according to the Bangor Daily News. The total value of the lobster catch was $331.4 million, representing 78% of the total value of all species caught last year. Lobstermen's prices for their catch, however, fell from $3.31 a pound in 2010 to $3.19 a pound last year.
The preliminary figures show fishermen's haul last year was worth more than $425 million, a $30 million drop over 2010. The total catch was 21 million pounds greater than 2010 and is the largest catch since 2006. Landings of Atlantic herring, used for lobster bait, and groundfish rose in 2011, while harvests for shellfish dropped.
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