Lobsters and the Recession

A butterfly flaps its wings in Iceland, and a fisherman loses his job in Maine. Okay, so there aren’t so many butterflies in Iceland. But still, interglobal economic woes have the price of lobster plummeting here in New England.

While cheap lobster dinners might seem like a silver lining to an otherwise grim recession, the situation has a devastating effect on the regional fishing industry. Oddly enough, struggling Maine lobstermen have the banking system in Iceland to blame. Garen Daly is here to untangle the net for us. Garen is creator of Frugal Yankee and a regular contributor to Word of Mouth. Listen to his interview with Dane Somers of the Maine Lobster Council by clicking here.

Also, it’s not just Maine lobster that’s in trouble. The regional fishing industry in general has been looking bleak over the past several years. Over-fishing and government regulations aimed at correcting that problem have both had negative impacts on the business. This leaves many life-long fishermen trying to figure out what to do next. And it’s not just those out on the boats affected. We meet a fishmonger in Portland who’s struggling to stay in business. Producer Gretta Cohn produced this story at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies. Click here to listen.

(Photo by man pikin)