Lobstermen want new specialty plate > Funds would promote fishery R&D

A group of lobstermen wants to put a lobster on your plate.

Your license plate, that is.

Plans are in the works to bring the familiar crustacean back to Maine’s registered vehicles in the form of a specialty plate that would generate funds for research and development in the lobster industry.

Toward that end, the group is in the process of raising $20,000 to print the first 2,000 pairs of plates, a move required by a new Maine law that became effective in July.

“Let’s do it,” said Bob Brown, a lobster fisherman of 51 years from Edgecomb. Brown serves as president and executive director for the Maine Lobster Dealers, and takes an active role in other industry-related organizations. He also serves on the Department of Marine Resources’ advisory council.

“The list of needs is a mile long,” said Brown, referring to areas for research and development in the industry, which range from disease control to better bands to hold claws shut. Research needs include investigating improved processing procedures, baiting methods, stock assessment programs and ways to enhance reproduction of lobsters, he said.

The idea is that vehicles sporting the lobster plate would promote Maine lobsters and tourism wherever the cars travel.

“We weren’t terribly happy with the lobster on there. It was kind of hidden behind the numbers,” said Brown of the old plate with blue numbers and a red lobster centered behind them. That plate has been replaced by a new model sporting a chickadee.

The Maine Lobster Promotion Council has established an account for the project called the Maine Lobster Special Plate Fund. So far, the newly established fund has received $2,000.

“It’s such an important product for the state of Maine,” Sue Barber, executive director of the Maine Lobster Promotion Council, said of the lobster. “The chickadee plates are very attractive, but when people think of Maine, we want them to think of lobster.”

Bringing the lobster image back to Maine plates would help create a strong identity for the product, she said.

After a three-year moratorium on production of specialty license plates, new rules became effective in July. They state that the secretary of state can no longer issue a specialty plate unless the plate is authorized by the Legislature.

A person must first register with the secretary of state as the sponsor of a plate. The sponsor is required to pay in advance for the manufacture of at least 2,000 pairs of plates, or about $20,000.

Both the secretary of state and a joint standing committee of the Legislature overseeing transportation matters review design plans before the plates are manufactured.

Maine now offers two specialty plates: the conservation plate, commonly called the “loon plate,” and a University of Maine System plate, which cost $20 for first-time plate owners. Of the $20 sum paid for each specialty plate, $6 goes to the state highway fund to cover administration and production costs for the plates.

Funds generated from the university plate are put into a scholarship fund. Revenues from the conservation plate help support state parks and endangered wildlife programs.

In fiscal year 1999, the conservation plate raised about $1.7 million, and the university plate earned just over $100,000.