There is nothing more exciting than hauling in a lobster trap that is crammed with lively, snappy lobsters. It is not about the money, it is about the catch. It is validation that the hundreds of hours of work that is required before the first trap is pulled, the huge annual expense of preparing and maintaining the boat and equipment, the cost of license, registration, electronics, insurance, bait and fuel is all worth it.
I am not giving up lobstering just because of the time it consumes. This is what a typical day of fishing entails...up at 4am, quick breakfast and out to the bait tote. I fish alone, so I stuff my bait bags before I head out. 150 to 180 bags later, usually a little past 6am, I head to the dock. Once there I load my bait and fuel onto a 4wheeler with a small pickup type bed and drive down to the float. I take my skiff out to my 20foot boat, start it up, and head to the float. Then I load the bait, fill the fuel tank, and head out to my first trap. It’s well past 7am before I start hauling.
After ten or so hours of hauling I go back to the dock, unload my lobsters and bait totes, go back to the mooring, get in my skiff and go back to the dock. I get my pay and head home to a shower, supper, and bed.
Two days a week I get up at 2am and drive 60miles each way to buy bait. $500.+ later I start the whole process over, lengthening my day significantly.
I am not giving up lobstering just because I get robbed repeatedly. I estimate that I lose more than 25% of my catch to thievery. When the lobsters start crawling, a fisherman can tell if his traps are being pilfered. I often put a tiny cable tie on the door of each trap and snip off the excess plastic. When I haul the next time around, I can tell if the trap has been tampered with. At times, especially after a foggy spell, more than half my traps have been opened. I recently asked a lobster buyer in my area if he had any idea who was robbing me and he said that its most of the other fishermen. This is a good time to mention that almost all lobstermen are Repugnicans.
I am not giving up lobstering just because bait is scarce. This year the allotment of herring has been drastically cut back. 4 years ago a barrel of herring was $120. Last year it was as much as $220. This year it will inevitably go up, and there will be extended periods when it is unavailable at any price. Last year bait was so scarce that I began going 55miles each way once a month to buy cowhide from a meat processor. I then had to burn off the hair with a torch and cut up the hide into pieces. This was done on Sundays, the only day it is illegal to haul traps. My so-called ‘day of rest’.
I am not giving up lobstering because I am 69 years old and have cancer. Yesterday I went clamming and dug 176lbs of steamers. I am blessed with exceptional health and determination. My cancer has, however, given me an ‘I don’t give a shit’ attitude that predisposes me to go after the thieving assholes who rob my gear. Give me a foggy day and a sharp knife and I can make thousands of dollars worth of traps vanish with impunity.
I am not giving up lobstering just because of Trump’s tariffs (tax increase). Last year the price of lobster was far lower than it would have been without the ‘Trump Tax’. This year it is expected to dip even further.
I am giving up lobstering because I am losing my love of humanity. The current mass psychosis that has enslaved small minded humans to the unreality of modern conservatism is being manifested in the thievery that I am experiencing throughout the summer. The anger and frustration I experience as I haul trap after trap only to find popped cable ties and no lobsters is a cancer of the mind and spirit. It is robbing me of far more than the dollars that I lose. It is diminishing my capacity for tolerance and compassion.
When all things of earth are left behind, what part of you will be left?