PORTLAND, Maine (AP) _ Fishery regulators say Maine's lobster fishermen topped 120 million pounds of catch in 2014 - a year when the value of the state's signature crustacean rebounded.
State Department of Marine Resources officials say Thursday that Maine lobstermen caught 123.7 million pounds of lobster last year. The catch represents a slight drop from 2013's 127.8 million pound mark. State records that go back to the 1880s say the last four years are the only years in which lobstermen have topped 100 million pounds of catch.
State officials say the value of lobster rose grew $2.90 per pound at the dock in 2013 to $3.69 per pound last year. State Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher says one of the reasons lobsters increased in value is because dealers found new markets for them.