Social Resilience in the Maine Lobster Fishery

The Maine lobster fishery is the most valuable commercial fishery in the state, and as such, supports a large number of families across very diverse communities. Researching social resilience in the Maine lobster fishery is important platform from which to understand how regulation impacts individual lobstermen and local communities. Recent studies suggest the fishery is vulnerable partly due to a need to better adapt effort with changes in the resource. In this analysis, social resilience, the ability to respond to social or ecological changes, such a necessary change in effort. To understand resilience and generational differences in the Maine lobster fishery, a sequential, mixed methods research design that consists of semi-structured interviews, observation at local and state management meetings, analysis of ME DMR license data, and a structured survey of lobstermen will be followed. This research focuses on improving the social resilience of lobster fishermen to future threats by preserving social memory and understanding generational differences as they affect the fishery’s vulnerability (a process often referred to as the “graying of the fleet”).