ROCKPORT, Maine — March 8, 2015 — Eric Dedoes, president of Plante Buoy Sticks in Somerville, said the company has been manufacturing plastic gear for lobster and crab traps for more than 30 years and does so at a factory in Lewiston — not by outsourcing to China or another country where costs are lower but attention to fishermen’s needs likely would be less.
Lobster fishermen have a reputation as being self-reliant, hardy folks who battle the elements alone every day they haul their traps off the coast of Maine.
But it takes many businesses, small and large, to support what is far and away the state’s most valuable fishery, including one Lincoln County company that is steadfast when it comes to the notion of staying local. Eric Dedoes, president of Plante Buoy Sticks in Somerville, said the company has been manufacturing plastic gear for lobster and crab traps for more than 30 years and does so at a factory in Lewiston — not by outsourcing to China or another country where costs are lower but attention to fishermen’s needs likely would be less.
“I’m made in Maine,” he said Saturday from his booth at the Maine Fishermen’s Forum. “I want to be.”
He said the company makes and sells “hundreds of thousands” of plastic pieces for the fishing industry every year, including trap corners, bait cleats, door hooks, lobster and crab escape vents and right whale-safe breakaway gear.
“We’re the only company that does all of it,” Dedoes said, affably greeting the lobster fishermen who stopped by to say hello and pick up free samples of the brightly colored plastic goods.
Read the full story from the Bangor Daily News