Socioeconomic indicators of resilience in Maine’s American lobster fishery

The American lobster (Homarus americanus) is an iconic component of the sociocultural and economic fabric of the state of Maine, where the commercial lobster fishery supports thousands of livelihoods. However, landings have recently declined, raising concerns about the long-term trajectory of the fishery, and highlighting the need for research to evaluate how changes to the fishery will impact harvesters and coastal communities. To address this need, we used a collaborative, mixed-methods approach to identify eight indicators that describe socioeconomic resilience in the lobster fishery from 2008 to 2022. Sufficient secondary data was available to fully quantify two of the indicators, coastal accessibility and operational condition, which track changes in housing availability and affordability, and the condition of a lobstermen’s business over time, respectively. We found spatial heterogeneity in the trends of both indicators over time, indicating that the socioeconomic impacts of changes to the fishery may vary along the coast. For example, coastal accessibility has declined in all coastal regions of Maine over time but the decline has been the most pronounced in the southern region. Our results lay the groundwork for continued development of socioeconomic indicators of resilience in Maine’s lobster fishery and can support the initiation of a long-term monitoring program to identify and respond to changes in socioeconomic condition of the lobster fleet. This research may also serve as a model for quantifying socioeconomic components of other fisheries around the world, many of which are facing an evolving landscape of social, economic, regulatory, and environmental shifts.