PORTLAND – Three hundred lobsters have a new lease on life thanks to an anonymous group that secured their release in Maine.

The episode unfolded in the midst of a lobster shortage and record prices when a group of young people arrived at New Meadows Lobster Pound declaring that lobsters are “God’s creatures” and deserved a shot at freedom, said owner Pete McAleney.

Freedom, however, came at a cost.

The group paid nearly $3,400 in cash to buy all of his one-claw lobsters – known as “culls” – at a cost of $11.25 apiece, McAleney said.

“We told them they’re going to get caught again, and they said, ‘That’s OK. We just want them to have a chance before they get caught again,”‘ McAleney said. “I don’t know if they go around and free chickens and cows or what.”

The story quickly made the rounds on the waterfront.

Only one other Portland lobster dealer, Harbor Fish Market, reported selling lobsters to someone who wanted to release them. Nick Alfiero, whose family owns the fish market, declined to discuss the transaction.

McAleney gave the group some tips on releasing the lobsters. He suggested that the group drop off the lobsters near the B&M baked bean plant in Portland, where the water is shallow and warmer. “They’ll walk to the open ocean,” he said.

Bob Bayer, executive director of the Lobster Institute, said McAleney gave the group good advice. He also said lobsters with one claw seem to do fine in the wild and, in time, grow the second one back.

The release of the lobsters coincided with a shortage caused by bad weather, cold water temperatures and low stocks in lobster pounds. Retail prices were hovering around $15 a pound.

The identities of the lobster liberators remained a mystery. The group from Harbor Fish Market used a pickup truck with Illinois license plates. It’s unclear if they were the same ones who bought lobsters from New Meadows.

One group that claims no credit is People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

“We never encourage people to give money to the lobster industry, even if it’s for the laudable goal of releasing them,” said Bruce Friedrich, PETA’s national vice president.