Author: bibi
As Economy Sinks, Boat Industry Lags
Thursday, May 8th, 2008 @ 3:29 pm
In Down East Maine, lobster boat building has a long tradition as a provider of jobs and money in a region that is short on both. Fishermen have been buying boats for as long as they’ve pulled lobster-filled traps from the cold waters off Maine’s rocky, seaweed-covered coast.
In early times, fishermen used rowboats before graduating to larger motorized vessels. Over time, the lobster boat evolved into a simple design featuring a high bow, a small cabin and low gunwales making it easier for lobstermen to lean over and tend their traps.
In Jonesport, which some regard as the birthplace of the modern Down East lobster boat, there’s no doubt about the importance of the industry: Lobster boats and traps are stored in yards, some road signs are in the shape of lobster boats, and the Independence Day celebration features lobster boat races. Here and elsewhere, lobster boat builders enjoyed boom times as the annual harvest of Maine’s signature seafood more than doubled from the 1990s to more than 70 million pounds this decade. To catch all those lobsters, fishermen needed big new boats with powerful engines and fancy electronics that could run $250,000 or more.
WordPress database error: [Table 'young_wrdp1.wp_post2cat' doesn't exist]
SELECT DISTINCT posts.ID, posts.post_title
FROM wp_posts posts, wp_post2cat post2cat
WHERE posts.ID <> 1472
AND posts.post_status = 'publish'
AND posts.ID = post2cat.post_id
AND post2cat.category_id IN(10,20)
ORDER BY posts.post_date DESC
LIMIT 5
Leave a Reply