Diesel at $6.49 a Gallon Squeezes Maine Lobster Boat Crews

Maine lobstermen are starting each trip roughly $1,000 behind because of fuel and bait costs, according to a report published on October 24 by News of Bahrain, which carried an AFP account from the Portland waterfront.

Steve Train, 59, who fishes Casco Bay with his brother aboard the 36-foot boat Moira Bay, said a day's run takes 30 gallons of diesel priced at $6.49 a gallon, close to 45% higher than a year earlier, plus three drums of bait at $260 apiece. The pair had just landed 430 pounds of lobster at a Portland pier when they spoke to AFP.

"It's hard to make a business plan with so many uncertainties and so much change," Train said.

Berthing fees, insurance and boat maintenance are also climbing, the report said, while catches decline and warmer water pushes the most productive grounds farther offshore. Federal rules intended to reduce entanglement of endangered North Atlantic right whales in vertical trap lines are a further concern for the fleet.

The cost squeeze has surfaced in the November 2026 Senate race, where Republican Sen. Susan Collins faces Democrat Troy Jackson. Train said he still plans to vote for Collins, citing her record on maritime workers, though he said President Donald Trump's tariffs and fuel prices are hitting fishermen hard.

This story was first reported by News of Bahrain.