BELFAST – The state’s once-robust sardine industry continues to shed jobs, the latest casualties being Stinson Seafood packing plants in Belfast and Lubec.

Stinson Seafood announced Thursday that both plants will be shut down for good in mid-September. The Belfast facility has 80 employees and there are 100 workers in Lubec. Many of the jobs are seasonal, as the harvesting of sardines is a cyclical business.

Company human resources director Fraser MacLeod said the closing was prompted by the fact that both plants are aging and being operated under lease agreements. The plants date back to the early 1900s.

The company owns sardine-packing facilities in the Hancock County town of Prospect Harbor and the Sagadahoc County city of Bath and intends to consolidate its efforts in Maine in those communities. Stinson has invested in both plants during the past year and the increased production capabilities at those locations make the Belfast and Lubec plants redundant, MacLeod said in a prepared statement.

“The plants located in Lubec and Belfast were aging facilities and would require major investment and leasehold improvements to bring them up to company standards,” he stated.

In Lubec, the loss of 100 jobs is devastating to the entire community. Although many of the jobs are part time in nature, Stinson Seafood is one of the town’s largest employers. And, due to the town’s geographical location at the far reaches of Washington County, Lubec officials know those jobs will be hard to replace.

“They are one of the largest employers and it’s a real blow to us to have them close,” Town Manager Nancy Mathews said in reaction to Stinson’s announcement. “One hundred jobs is a big blow to a community of 1,650 people. We don’t have the options that the people in Belfast may have. We have very few options and we don’t have any other big employers.”

Belfast Mayor Michael Hurley said he hoped the city’s low unemployment rate would help the Stinson employees make the transition to another line of work. He said the closing would be difficult for those involved because many of the workers love their jobs and the camaraderie of working the production line.

“It is very sad and the city intends to do all we can to help those who will be losing their jobs,” said Hurley. “It’s the end of an era for Belfast. Eighty people work there, make their lives and their living there and I think it’s a real loss to the heart and soul of Belfast. Thank God that we have 2.9 percent unemployment because at least this is a good economy to look for new work. Not that that is an excuse for someone losing a job they truly love.”

The Belfast plant was closed Thursday and attempts to discuss the news of the impending shutdown with workers were unsuccessful.

Connors Bros. Ltd., owner of Stinson Seafood, is the largest packer of sardines in North America. It is a subsidy of George Weston Ltd., a Canadian food products company that reported annual sales of more than $15 billion last year.

There was a time when the state had more than a dozen sardine-packing plants. By the time Connors Bros. obtained control of the four remaining plants, Maine’s sardine industry employed more than 800 people when packing at full strength. The plants converted about 35 metric tons of Atlantic herring into about 100 million cans of sardines on an annual basis.

Jeff Kaelin, the former head of the Maine Sardine Council and a consultant to Stinson, said those totals have remained the same but that modern technology has reduced the need for as many plants and workers. He said Stinson’s two remaining plants could produce the same output as four facilities did last year.

Because Connors Bros. is a Canadian firm, it had to agree to a set of operating principles before the state would sign off on the purchase. In the consent decree approving the purchase in April 2000, Connors pledged to invest a minimum of $12 million in its Maine facilities over a 12-year period. The company is already well advanced into that investment obligation, said Kaelin.

The consent decree did not require those investments to be made in leased packing plants, such as those in Belfast and Lubec, however. Former Stinson owner Richard Klingaman of Bath owns the Belfast property. Lubec Packing Co. is owned by Francis Kulle of Camden. Attempts to reach both men for comments about potential plans for their property were unsuccessful.

The consent decree gave Connors Bros. the long-term option of operating “one or more” of the four plants it acquired when it purchased Stinson Seafood. The decree also allowed the company to consolidate its operation into a single, modern facility if it decided to go that route at some future date.

Francis Ackerman, the assistant attorney general who negotiated the consent decree, described the closings as unfortunate but within the parameters of the agreement.

“There is in no way a violation of their consent decree obligation,” said Ackerman. “It is obviously an unfortunate development for the communities involved but it is their prerogative.”

Mathews noted that the sardine industry was one of Lubec’s earliest industries and its oldest. She said one former plant is being used for other purposes, and that Stinson’s Lubec packing plant was the last of its kind.

“It wouldn’t be such a blow for us if there were other options on the horizon,” she said. “Lubec has none of those options. We’re at the end of the line here and there’s just not too many industries that would come in here and bring that many jobs.”