Jeff Holden, owner of Portland Shellfish and Claw Island Foods of Vinalhaven, says the two companies handled about half a million pounds of lobster in 2001. In 2002, he hopes to exceed that amount by 20 percent, largely as a result of a new alliance forged between Claw Island and Inland Seafood, a major processor, sales and marketing distributor based in the Southeast. Inland is also one of the largest buyers of Maine lobster and has three locations in Maine.
Inland Seafood, which has three plants in the South, has been in business for 25 years. Its president, Joel Knox, says the company handles in excess of 150,000 pounds of fresh, frozen and live seafood each week. For several years, Inland has distributed Portland Shellfish’s cooked frozen lobster meat and tails. Knox says it has picked up the Claw Island frozen cooked whole lobster because “it’s a beautiful product which tastes unbelievable.” He believes that distribution of Claw Island product by his company will give it a broad exposure nationally that it otherwise might not have had.
In recent years, techniques for freezing cooked lobster have been perfected, and taste tests have shown no discernible difference in the quality of the frozen and fresh cooked lobster. Large food consumers like supermarkets outside the Northeast, cruise ships, chain restaurants and institutions and have switched to frozen lobster because it is so easy to store and use. Inland Seafood’s customer network includes many of these large buyers.
If Holden’s companies do increase their output by 20 percent, it would mean another 100,000 pounds of Maine lobster would remain in the state this year for processing. This would help reduce the approximately 25 percent of Maine’s catch that presently ends up in Canadian processing plants.
“If we can build the processing industry in Maine, it would create a more stable market for Maine fishermen to sell their catch,” says Holden, who is president of the Maine Lobster Processor, Inc., a group of five processors dedicated to ensuring that lobster products of uniform high quality are manufactured and shipped from Maine. Although he does not believe he will be hiring new people this year, Holden anticipates the Claw Island plant will probably run a longer season than last year, and he hopes future growth will lead to more jobs.
Susan Barber, executive director of the Maine Lobster Promotion Council (WWF Oct. 2001) says the multiplier effect of keeping processing in-state is good for fishermen and the economy as a whole. “It supports entire communities,” she says, “including transporters, dealers, boat manufacturers, rope and trap manufacturers, and on the user end, restaurants and supermarkets. I’ve always felt that processing, whether just freezing or adding value, is really the future of the industry.”
Barber and Knox point out that many supermarket chains across the country have removed lobster tanks because they require too much maintenance. Knox says Inland Seafood is working on an experiment with 15 grocery stores, part of a large chain in Florida, which took out their tanks three to five years ago. “We want to see if they can revive lobster sales by using Claw Island frozen lobster,” he says. “If the product sells well in these grocery stores, we’ll be able to sell to a lot of others.” Frozen lobster, he points out, has the distinct advantage of no shrinkage when cooked, and no mortalities.
Barber notes that people are accustomed to buying their protein already cut and packaged, and that convenience food has become the mainstay of busy families. “All a person has to do is notice the amount of space supermarkets are devoting these days to frozen foods,” she says. “It’s evident this is the food industry’s future.” She believes it is important that the lobster industry keep up with changes in the marketplace.
Holden says when the The New York Times ran a brief story about Claw Island products and requested that he have it available on-line for readers, he received 400 orders. “Afterwards, we asked those people to evaluate the lobster,” he says, “and it was amazing how many responded and told us how easy it was, how much they loved it, and that they would order it again. (A whole frozen lobster can be thawed for 36 hours in the refrigerator or 45 minutes in tepid water, steamed a few minutes and put on the table.)
Presently, Holden’s company is working on its own packaging for frozen cooked whole lobsters, and Emily Lane of Vinalhaven, who handles export of Claw Island products, traveled in April to the Brussels Seafood Expo to gain international customers. Holden expects it’s just a matter of time before Claw Island frozen cooked lobster appears in supermarkets, even locally. “A friend told me,” he says, “that he thinks we’re missing the boat by not marketing frozen lobster in the Northeast. He said if he was camping he’d much rather throw it in the cooler to eat in a couple of days and not have to worry about mortality.”