Lobster Institute marks its 20th

ORONO – While talking about all the various issues and projects the Lobster Institute has been involved with over the years, Executive Director Bob Bayer had to pause and catch his breath.

“I’m not sure where to stop,” he said.

The institute was founded in 1987 when members of Maine’s lobster industry decided they needed to play an active role in research that was being done on lobsters and the marine environment, Bayer said last week. Lobster health, alternative baits, protecting reproducing females, trap escape vents, and the effectiveness of lobster hatcheries all have been issues that the industry has been concerned with and wanted to have studied, he said.

Though based at the University of Maine, the Lobster Institute has expanded its scope outside Maine to include all lobster fishing areas between New York and Newfoundland. Its board of advisers is made up of about 20 industry members from throughout this geographic area.

On Saturday, to celebrate its 20th anniversary, the institute held a wine and lobster tasting at the University of Maine. Herb Hodgkins of Hancock, owner of Lobster Products Inc., was honored at the event, as was Bill Adler, executive director of the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association.

One of the higher-profile issues the institute has been involved with is the lobster die-off in Long Island Sound in 1999, which was attributed to the application of a pesticide aimed at fighting a West Nile Virus outbreak in the New York City area.

The institute was the first outside entity to look into fishermen’s complaints about the die-off, sending investigators to Long Island Sound two weeks after the pesticide was applied. Because of its responsiveness, the institute last year received $100,000 as part of a $12.5 million settlement between the fishermen and the chemical companies that made the pesticide.

But the biggest accomplishment of the institute may be its record of bridging the gap between fishermen and the government scientists who have regulated their industry, according to Bayer. There is a much higher level of trust and mutual cooperation between the two groups than there was a few decades ago, he said.

“You couldn’t get them in the same room, and they didn’t think they liked each other,” Bayer said. “Really, what we’re all about is preserving a way of life.”

That way of life also is a way to earn a living for the thousands of Mainers whose jobs are directly connected to the lobster industry. Lobstering contributed nearly $300 million to the Maine economy in 2006 and had a total economic impact estimated between $2.4 and $4 billion, according to institute figures.

Adler, who also is chairman of the institute’s board of advisers, said Tuesday that educating the public is one of the larger accomplishments of the institute. But he stressed it is not an advocacy group. Whatever information the institute provides about lobster is backed by sound scientific research, he said.