ExploringMaine.com

Buying lobster at $3.99 a pound is a glorious thing - for diners. It is not so good for lobstermen, and now this breed is joining ground fishermen as coastal workers under duress from a perfect storm of factors that will be hard to reverse.

Prices are lower for several reasons, according to my new source, the Island Institute in Rockland.

Several reasons for falling prices are as follows:

- Major buyers of Maine lobster - restaurant chains like The Outback and the Red Lobster - are ordering less. Price-conscious diners are ignoring lobster because of the (purported) high prices, and also, major buyers are often purchasing from Canada.

- The uniqueness of a Maine lobster has diminished, as dealers, wholesalers and restaurant owners sometimes substitutte shrimp and spiney lobsters on the menu instead of the freshly caught Maine lobster.

- Energy costs keeps rising. With gas and diesel prices rising, trips out are getting more expensive. State officials say that Maine is the most heavily dependent state in the country (about 87 percent) on imported fossil fuels.

Action is being taken to help the lobster industry. The Governor's Office is reportedly ready to take the lead in an advertising campaign to "brand" Maine lobsters as the best in the world.

And several islands and coast communities are breaking ground on towers to generate wind power. so that some residents an see a fall in the price of power.

In the short term, we should buy more Maine lobster to support this coastal industry (not a difficult chore). In the long term, economists and state officials say that the cost of energy must be reduced so that trades that rely on fuel - like lobstermen and fishermen in harbors like the one below (Rockport) - will be able to survive.