Lobstering has become the healthiest of Maine\u27s fisheries, in part because of th

Lobstering has become the healthiest of Maine\u27s fisheries, in part because of the decline of other species. The value of the lobster catch has increased by almost 50 percent and the total catch has doubled in the last ten years. Lobstermen are preparing for an inevitable downturn in the lobster fishery by imposing trap limits and supporting conservation. Lobstermen from Monhegan Island and Friendship recently negotiated a way to preserve their future, and some in the industry see the agreement as a model worth replicating up and down the Maine coast. Details; statistics on the lobster fishery from 1880 to 1996, and Maine fish landings in 1996