7 Things That Happen in Maine Lobstering Once Winter Sets In
Mainers along the coast know that lobstering looks a lot different once the cold sets in.
Here’s what happens to lobstering once winter sets in that few tourists realize.
Note: This is general information, not legal advice. Licensing, reporting and gear rules are subject to change, so confirm the current requirements with the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR).
1. Slower Lobsters in Cold Water
Cold water limited lobster catches in Maine, a March 2026 Fox Business report found.
A lobsterman said lobsters move less and don’t want to eat once the water turns cold.
Down East waters, from Stonington to Machias, ran significantly colder than average, particularly at the ocean floor.
If you’re wondering where lobsters go when the water chills, a lobster industry group says in a September 2025 post that lobsters seek deeper water in late fall and winter.
2. Fewer Days on the Water
Lobster crews fished about half as many days as normal during peak winter months, a lobsterman told the outlet.
The trouble started in December, a month when you usually get to fish a lot of days.
A separate measure came from the Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries.
Its executive director said lobstermen ideally want to fish about 15 days a month but had dropped to about five.
3. Smaller Monthly Landings
The monthly lobster landings table by county and zone, linked from DMR’s landings data, puts Maine’s October 2024 landings at about 15.1 million pounds.
December 2024 came in at about 6 million, two-fifths of October’s.
The winter before went further, from about 15.3 million pounds in October 2023 to about 1.2 million in February 2024.
If you think of winter as a slower stretch, consider that February landings were under a tenth of the October before in every year from 2005 through 2024.
4. Higher Prices at the Dock
Boat prices for Maine lobster run higher in winter.
DMR says the dollar values on its landings tables are boat prices, meaning what harvesters were paid.
Those are dock prices, not what you pay at a market.
Dividing each month’s value by its pounds works out to about $4.80 a pound for October 2023, about $6.20 for December, about $7.20 for January 2024 and about $9.60 for February.
February’s price topped the October before it in every year from 2005 through 2024.
5. Lobstermen Turning to Scallops
Some Maine lobstermen also go scalloping to get through the slowest part of the lobstering season.
The Bangor Daily News said in February 2024 that scalloping can be a financial bridge for fishermen waiting out that stretch.
Maine’s 2023-24 scallop season ran from Dec. 11 to March 21, with a limited number of open fishing days.
Not every lobsterman scallops, though fishermen often pursue more than one species.
If you’re wondering how long crews have kept at it, one Casco Bay lobsterman has scalloped since 1990.
6. Storms and Stored Gear
The first of two winter storms started on Jan. 9, 2024.
The Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association told National Fisherman that many fishermen lost traps and gear stored for the off-season.
Wharves took heavy damage too.
The causes were heavy surf, storm surge and flooding worsened by melting snow.
That included the wharf at Thurston’s Lobster Pound on Mount Desert Island, which its manager said supports 22 lobstermen.
7. Year-Round Offshore Fishing
Maine lobstering has a small group of fishermen who work year-round, which takes them offshore in winter, a 2016 Working Waterfront report found.
In 2016, that fishing was minor next to the July-through-November peak.
Offshore boats have to pick their weather days.
If you want to fish beyond 3 miles from shore, you need a federal permit.
About 20 percent of the fleet held one that year.
Year-to-Year Swings
Maine lobster landings in January were about 3.7 million pounds in 2021 and about 1 million in 2022.
February fell from about 1.2 million pounds to about 0.4 million over the same two years.
March went the other way, from about 0.5 million pounds in 2020 to about 1.1 million in 2021.
January landings were about 2.1 million pounds in 2023 and about 2.5 million in 2024.
If you line up the winters, December stayed steadier, at about 4.8 million pounds in 2022, 5.8 million in 2023 and 6 million in 2024.
Monthly Reports in Idle Months
Maine lobstering comes with monthly trip-level reports for each month you hold an active license, under DMR’s January 2023 notice.
Lobster is among the fisheries with mandatory harvester reporting, for commercial and student license holders.
Reports are due by the 10th of the following month, so January’s are due Feb. 10.
DMR’s 2023 FAQ says you file a negative report for months you don’t fish, and it can run across a date range.
If you hold a license but won’t fish, you can file one negative report for the full year.
If you owe reports, your license won’t be available to renew.
What Counts as an Idle Month
Maine lobster harvesters file a report only for days they haul traps.
Days spent only setting traps don’t need one.
If you haul traps on even one day in a month, you file that day’s report and no negative reports for the other days.
Buoy-Line Closure in the Gulf of Maine
Federal whale rules bar Maine lobstering gear with traditional buoy lines from an offshore stretch of the Gulf of Maine every year from Oct. 1 through Jan. 31.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says the area exists to protect endangered right whales from entanglement in buoy lines.
Trap gear can stay in the area if you fish it without buoy lines, or with lines stored on the bottom until they’re released remotely for hauling.
Researchers in approved projects can also fish ropeless gear there.
License Renewal
Maine lobster licenses expire at the end of the calendar year, so you renew before the new one starts.
For the 2026 license year, DMR opened online renewals on Nov. 1, 2025, and paper renewals on Nov. 15.
You can renew a lobster license only if you held it the year before, and you have to be the boat owner.
If you plan to fish a second zone, you have to pick it when you renew because secondary zones can’t be added later.
Tags take four to six weeks to arrive.
Psst! How much do you know about Maine’s lobster fishery? Take our quiz and see if you can ace it.
Quiz
Maine Lobster IQ
Answer ten questions on Maine’s lobster rules, landings, and gear. We bet you can’t get them all right. Prove us wrong?
Under Maine law, what’s the longest a lobster can be before it’s illegal to possess?
A Mild Winter
In a warm winter, you may still see lobster boats working in December.
National Fisherman reported in January 2016 that many New England lobstermen were still fishing deep into December because of unseasonably warm weather.
Some Maine lobstermen who also scallop hadn't made the switch to winter scalloping because lobster fishing was still strong.
Maine scallops were a little harder to find as a result, and some retailers were low on supply.
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