Before the attractive chickadee replaced the boiled lobster on Maine license plates nearly five years ago, it was noted by the far-seeing that the new plate would reduce the number of people who then were avoiding the lobster by paying an extra $15 for the also attractive loon plate, which helps fund Maine’s wildlife programs. This wasn’t a guess, sales of the University of Maine vanity plate were already having that effect on the unloved lobster plate.

Two years ago, as the percentage of drivers who were switching from the loon to the chickadee became clear – loon-plate sales were down nearly 25 percent – several of those far-seeing people began making suggestions about what might be done to avoid further revenue loss.

Recently, the two agencies that collect money from the loon plate, the Departments of Conservation and Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, noted that sales of the loon conservation plates were off by 30 percent (revenue was off about $425,000) and this created funding difficulties. In response, the state would be promoting the loon plate more aggressively.

This is a good thing, but the lesson from the other plates, including the UMaine plate and the newer, successful lobster-promotion plate – and from that hugely successful affinity credit-card business on Maine’s coast – is that in today’s market, niche retailing works. So could it be cost effective to offer a variety of conservation plates, perhaps switching the species every couple of years? A new loon-plate design might be needed or maybe a lynx (a bald eagle?) to generate new interest. It’s not as if Maine has only a couple of license plates now and couldn’t stand a few more.

The state might try raising the conservation plate fee to $25 a year, offering a variety of plates and letting the public decide which are popular and which should go the way of the lobster.