Lobster Boats in Stonington Harbor (2003)
After almost forty years of basically flat lobster landings at about 20,000,000 pounds, the catch has trended upward since 1990. While the value has increased consistently in current dollars, its rate of increased accelerated with higher catch figures.
Landings vary by location: counties, towns, and specific ports.
Lobster Landings 1950-2016
| YEAR | POUNDS | POUNDS (millions) | VALUE | PRICE/LB |
| 1950 | 18,352,600 | 18.4 | $6,412,311 | $0.35 |
| 1951 | 20,759,500 | 20.8 | $7,214,107 | $0.35 |
| 1952 | 20,036,300 | 20.08 | $8,511,821 | $0.42 |
| 1953 | 22,300,300 | 22.388 | $8,411,229 | $0.38 |
| 1954 | 21,667,700 | 21.7 | $8,087,156 | $0.37 |
| 1955 | 22,718,100 | 22.7 | $8,716,012 | $0.38 |
| 1956 | 20,572,300 | 20.6 | $9,119,807 | $0.44 |
| 1957 | 24,402,800 | 24.4 | $8,954,234 | $0.37 |
| 1958 | 21,312,000 | 21.3 | $10,445,004 | $0.49 |
| 1959 | 22,328,800 | 22.3 | $11,252,686 | $0.50 |
| 1960 | 24,014,200 | 24.0 | $10,967,018 | $0.46 |
| 1961 | 20,917,900 | 20.9 | $11,119,803 | $0.53 |
| 1962 | 22,075,300 | 22.1 | $11,195,609 | $0.51 |
| 1963 | 22,804,300 | 22.8 | $12,635,826 | $0.55 |
| 1964 | 20,920,697 | 20.9 | $13,878,286 | $0.66 |
| 1965 | 18,861,785 | 18.9 | $14,177,204 | $0.75 |
| 1966 | 19,915,816 | 19.9 | $14,904,498 | $0.75 |
| 1967 | 16,489,196 | 16.5 | $13,597,869 | $0.82 |
| 1968 | 20,501,732 | 20.5 | $14,931,671 | $0.73 |
| 1969 | 19,834,780 | 19.8 | $16,046,829 | $0.81 |
| 1970 | 18,172,269 | 18.2 | $17,201,501 | $0.95 |
| 1971 | 17,558,351 | 17.6 | $17,481,291 | $1.00 |
| 1972 | 16,256,467 | 16.3 | $18,587,455 | $1.14 |
| 1973 | 17,044,194 | 17.0 | $23,269,859 | $1.37 |
| 1974 | 16,457,666 | 16.5 | $23,212,808 | $1.41 |
| 1975 | 16,515,588 | 16.5 | $26,520,134 | $1.61 |
| 1976 | 19,001,053 | 19.0 | $29,238,371 | $1.54 |
| 1977 | 18,487,138 | 18.5 | $32,101,423 | $1.74 |
| 1978 | 19,130,459 | 19.1 | $33,878,376 | $1.77 |
| 1979 | 22,133,235 | 22.1 | $39,900,632 | $1.80 |
| 1980 | 21,986,894 | 21.9 | $41,729,114 | $1.90 |
| 1981 | 22,631,614 | 22.6 | $47,236,923 | $2.09 |
| 1982 | 22,730,253 | 22.7 | $50,343,596 | $2.21 |
| 1983 | 21,976,555 | 22.0 | $51,234,291 | $2.33 |
| 1984 | 19,545,682 | 19.5 | $49,298,135 | $2.52 |
| 1985 | 20,125,177 | 20.1 | $45,035,558 | $2.24 |
| 1986 | 19,704,317 | 19.7 | $46,171,224 | $2.34 |
| 1987 | 19,747,766 | 19.7 | $54,548,137 | $2.76 |
| 1988 | 21,739,067 | 21.7 | $60,742,438 | $2.79 |
| 1989 | 23,368,719 | 23.4 | $59,552,211 | $2.55 |
| 1990 | 28,068,238 | 28.1 | $61,627,973 | $2.20 |
| 1991 | 30,788,646 | 30.8 | $72,265,347 | $2.35 |
| 1992 | 26,830,448 | 26.8 | $71,822,699 | $2.68 |
| 1993 | 29,926,464 | 29.9 | $73,863,438 | $2.47 |
| 1994 | 38,948,867 | 38.9 | $100,936,678 | $2.59 |
| 1995 | 37,208,324 | 37.2 | $101,893,173 | $2.74 |
| 1996 | 36,083,443 | 36.1 | $106,980,557 | $2.96 |
| 1997 | 47,023,271 | 47.0 | $138,292,438 | $2.94 |
| 1998 | 47,036,836 | 47.0 | $137,189,341 | $2.92 |
| 1999 | 53,494,418 | 53.5 | $184,614,071 | $3.45 |
| 2000 | 57,215,406 | 57.2 | $187,714,817 | $3.28 |
| 2001 | 48,617,693 | 48.6 | $153,982,266 | $3.17 |
| 2002 | 63,625,745 | 63.6 | $210,950,030 | $3.32 |
| 2003 | 54,970,948 | 55.0 | $205,715,329 | $3.74 |
| 2004 | 71,574,344 | 71.6 | $289,078,847 | $4.04 |
| 2005 | 68,729,861 | 68.7 | $317,948,336 | $4.63 |
| 2006 | 75,416,341 | 75.4 | $305,703,938 | $4.05 |
| 2007 | 63,981,361 | 66.0 | $280,678,206 | $4.39 |
| 2008 | 69,908,504 | 70.0 | $245,150,026 | $3.51 |
| 2009 | 81,174,638 | 81.2 | $237,536,890 | $2.93 |
| 2010 | 96,208,772 | 96.2 | $318,052,441 | $3.31 |
| 2011 | 104924728 | 105.0 | $334,539,734 | $3.19 |
| 2012 | 127,321,422 | 127.3 | $342,079,520 | 2.69 |
| 2013 | 127,808,436 | 127.8 | $370,380,982 | $2.90 |
| 2014 | 124,325,923 | 124.3 | $459,508,386 | $3.70 |
| 2015 | 122,443,246 | 122.4 | $501,336,480 | $4.09 |
| 2016 | 130,844,773 | 130.8 | $533,094,366 | $4.07 |
The 2002 and 2003 landings may possibly reflect the increased effort by the Department of Marine Resources to collect voluntary landings from some lobster dealers; caution is advised when comparing these numbers to previous years.
Lobster reporting became mandatory in 2004 for all Maine dealers buying directly from harvesters, so caution is advised when comparing theses landings to previous years.
Source: Maine. Department of Marine Resources. http://www.maine.gov/dmr/commercialfishing/documents/lobster.table_002.pdf (accessed September 16, 2012)