Maine’s lobster harvest fell again in 2025, with state regulators attributing the latest drop to high costs and inflation, market uncertainty tied to tariffs, and the effects of a warming ocean on lobster distribution. The result continued a multi-year pattern that regulators said has cut Maine’s catch every year since 2021, even as lobster remains widely available in the U.S. on restaurant menus and in seafood markets.
State fishing regulators said the 2025 harvest totaled 78.8 million pounds (35.7 million kilograms) of lobsters, down from more than 110 million pounds (49.9 million kilograms) in 2021. Regulators said the 2025 total was the lowest since 2008, and that the haul remains central to Maine’s identity and culture as well as to its export economy.
Regulators also tied the most recent decline—between 2024 and 2025—to changes in the economics of fishing. Carl Wilson, commissioner of the Maine Department of Marine Resources, said inflation hit the industry hard last year and that there were more than 21,000 fewer fishing trips than in 2024. Wilson also said market uncertainty related to tariffs and a late start to the busy portion of the season played roles, and that this combination contributed to a decline in the lobster harvest of more than eight million pounds.
In a statement, Wilson said the lobster harvest fell by more than eight million pounds from 2024 to 2025 and that the overall value of the catch decreased by more than $75 million. Regulators said lobsters are caught predominantly in waters off Maine, though the species is also trapped elsewhere in New England.
The regulatory view of the long-term trend rests partly on science that describes lobster as sensitive to temperature. The haul has declined every year since 2021, and some scientists have cited warming ocean conditions that encourage migration to Canadian waters as a reason for the shift. Regulators noted that southern New England lobster fisheries have been declared depleted for years, describing that decline as linked to warmer waters off Rhode Island and southern Massachusetts and warning that similar patterns could be developing off Maine.
Federal-regional management assessments have also influenced the debate. Last year, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission said lobster populations showed “rapid decline in abundance in recent years” in key areas and declared the species to be experiencing overfishing. Environmental groups have called for tighter regulation of the fishery, while some in the industry have pushed back, saying fishermen are already constrained by regulations intended to conserve lobster stocks and protect endangered whales.
Even amid the latest decline, industry participants described mixed experiences during the 2025 season. John Drouin, who fishes out of Cutler, said the season was “not a very profitable season,” attributing that to high costs for necessities such as fuel and gear. Steve Train, based out of Long Island, said lobsters were trapped more consistently than in the previous year, describing “Hauling was more consistent, with less peaks and valleys, and the price was higher in the summer months,” though he said “But I think I landed a little less.”
At the docks, the fishery’s value has continued to depend on pricing and how much product is landed. Regulators said the overall catch—one of the most lucrative in the U.S.—is frequently worth more than $500 million at the docks each year, and said last year it was more than $461 million. They said lobsters typically sold for $3 to $5 per pound at the dock in the 2010s and have been more than $6 per pound in some recent years; last year the dock price was $5.85 per pound.
Looking at longer history, regulators said last year’s catch was still relatively high compared with historic totals, rising from typically 50 million to 70 million pounds (about 23 million to 32 million kilograms) in the 2000s and even less in the decade before that. They said hauls surged in the 2010s, topping out at more than 132 million pounds (60 million kilograms) in 2016, before the multi-year decline set in.