PORTLAND – For the second year in a row, Maine lobstermen have enjoyed a late-season surge that has eased fears of a pending collapse of the lobster population.

The summer months traditionally have been the peak moneymaking time for lobstermen. But the past couple of years, the catch has been as strong in the fall months.

The total catch for the 2005 season is expected to be down from last year, when Maine lobstermen caught 71 million pounds valued at $286 million.

But until a few weeks ago, many fishermen feared the harvest was in for a severe drop, which could have put many lobstermen in financial jeopardy.

“They were looking at a cliff,” said Dan Schick, director of the biomonitoring and assessment division of the state Department of Marine Resources.

The lobster harvest is closely watched in Maine because there are 7,400 licensed lobstermen, and the fishery now represents 70 percent of the total value of Maine’s commercial fishing industry.

The smaller summer catch in the past few years seems to be caused by a shift in the state’s lobster season, not a decline in the Gulf of Maine population.

Water temperatures may play a role. With water temperatures cooler in the spring in recent years, the shedding season – when lobsters molt into larger shells and become more active on the ocean bottom – has been a month or more later than usual.

The late surge has helped, but for some the recent increase in the catch has occurred too late in the season.

“It’s picked up a bit, but it’s too little and too late to salvage the season,” said Richard Black, a Portland lobsterman.

The potential is there for healthy lobster catches until mid-January, said Peter McAleney, owner of New Meadows Lobster in Portland.

If the strong harvest continues into December, the lobsters will be of high quality, and people will be willing to pay high prices for them for the holiday season, he said.

But long stretches of bad weather could spoil those plans because it would be too risky for fishermen to be on the water.

“The season this year will last longer,” McAleney said. “But Mother Nature will have to cooperate.”