Linda Bean launches new way to promote Maine’s lobster industry

PORT CLYDE, ME – Linda
Bean brings a famous name
and a passion for her home
state to the challenge of helping
achieve the desirable ‘eco’
label of the London-based
Marine Stewardship Council
to Maine’s lobster industry.
The certification drive, a
grassroots fundraising effort
to which her family company,
L.L. Bean, has contributed
$50,000, would put Maine’s
wild lobster catch in high
demand, well positioned for
both US and global markets
at a time which sustainable
seafood is a hot commodity.
With other members of a governor-
appointed group, Bean
is working with lobstermen
and others to attain certification.
“They’ve been using
sustainable practices since
the 1930s,” she points out.
The effort has been organized
to be a “grassroots
achievement,” she says. “We
are taking charge of our own
future. The certification is an
important element needed for
the future of our industry.”
She’s also launched a new
multifaceted brand, Linda
Bean’s Perfect Maine®, for
her seafood line of live native
lobsters shipped direct from
Port Clyde and Vinal Haven
wharves, along with added-value
products developed in her
kitchen, featuring lobster and
wild caught Maine shrimp.

Now one of Maine’s largest
lobster dealers with a
supply estimated at 2.2 million
pounds this year, Bean
is selling authentic Maine
hard shell lobsters with claw
tags that identify their origin.
Turn the tag over and it
reads: “Wild Caught in U.S.A.
by Maine Fishermen Using
Sustainable Practices.”
In addition, she’s created a
line of value-added products
including a creamy lobster
stew and lobster rolls,
This summer, she opened
takeout counters in Freeport
and Rockland, ME and expects
to do more in Florida
this winter. If successful, the
program will be expanded
and could even be franchised,
she says.
Much of Maine’s soft shell
lobster catch goes to processors,
she explains, and is
cooked for products. A shortage
of processors in the U.S.
has meant much of that lobster
gets sold in Canada. She
envisions a growth model for
an industry now under pressure
from Canadian processors
that would eliminate as
many middlemen as possible
to become more profitable. “A
huge percentage (of the catch)
is shipped off to Canada and
returned back to us at higher
prices,” Bean points out. The
value-added line she’s developing
is positioned for “green
and sustainable markets”
such as supermarkets, club
stores, national chain and
independent restaurants.
Visit www.lindabeansperfect-
Maine.com for information.