In Maine, It’s Mainly Lobsters

Lobster bake during the windjammer cruise — 25 lobsters for 11 passengers. Photo by Clark Norton

Quick: When you think of Maine, what image pops to mind first? Chances are it’s lobster.

Is there any other state so identified with one kind of food — or so dependent for its economy on one? Vermont and maple syrup, perhaps, or Florida and oranges — except that Florida has a much more diversified economy.

On a recent trip to Maine for a windjammer cruise aboard the historic Nathaniel Bowditch sailing ship — which I’ll be writing about in subsequent posts — I was struck by the thousands of lobster traps floating in Penobscot Bay off the town of Rockland, where our cruise took place.

Lobsters love the Maine coast as much as Maine loves lobsters, at least until they get caught. Maine has the ideal environment for lobsters to thrive —… Continue reading →