March 12, 2015 โ Part of the pleasure of attending the annual Maine Fishermen's Forum has been its medley of the bureaucratic and the personal, science and anecdotes, the esoteric and the commonplace. During the recent 40th Maine Fishermen's Forum, held at the Samoset Resort in Rockport, that array was as engaging as ever, spiced up a bit by the appearance once again of Dave Carraro from the T.V. show "Wicked Tuna."
To no one's surprise, lobster dominated many of the weekend's sessions. Lobster is Maine's dominant commercial fishery. Preliminary numbers released by the Department of Marine Resources (DMR) show that Maine lobstermen landed $457 million worth of lobster in 2014, a record for the state. The total value of all commercial fisheries landed in Maine came to $585.3 million. And there's the rub: lobster comprises 78.1% of total landed value.
Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative
For some, the disproportionate weight of lobster among all landings is a cause for worry. The Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative, however, is happy with those numbers. The Collaborative, established in 2013 to replace the Maine Lobster Promotion Council, presented its marketing plan for lobster at the forum on Friday. Executive director Matt Jacobson, former head of Maine & Co., introduced experts from the marketing firm Weber Shandwick, which the Collaborative hired in December 2014. Weber Shandwick is responsible for such nationally known advertising campaigns as "Got Milk" and "Pork, the other white meat."
Joe Frydl, strategist at Weber Shandwick, explained the Collaborative's goal succinctly: "We need to stabilize the price." The price paid to lobstermen for their catch hit historic lows in 2012 after taking a severe tumble during the recession that began in 2008. The price typically fluctuates greatly during the year based on the amount landed in Maine and the lobstering results in Canada.
So what will Weber Shandwick do for Maine lobstermen? Increase demand for Maine lobster, specifically, and at a time when most of the lobster is landed, said Frydl, by emphasizing the quality and local characteristics of that lobster. "Seasonality and provenance are popular with diners," he said. Consumers are searching for food that is in season, locally grown, and has a story attached to it. "The moment you attach a place name to a protein it means something," he said, noting that items such as Waygu beef (from Japan), Copper River Salmon (from Alaska) and New Zealand lamb command attention from consumers.
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