AUGUSTA, Maine — A plan to replace the Maine Lobster Promotion Council with a new, more robust marketing entity tasked with increasing demand for Maine lobster through expanded product and brand development efforts moved ahead Thursday night.
The Maine Lobster Advisory Council voted unanimously on Thursday to approve the plan, which calls for raising $3 million over the next three years through increased fees to fund the new marketing entity, according to Annie Tselikis, education coordinator for the Maine Lobstermen’s Association and co-chair of the advisory council’s marketing subcommittee.
There’s no name for the new entity yet, but the advisory council called its research and public outreach efforts, which began in June, Project Maine Lobster.
The council’s vote is not the end of the process. The Department of Marine Resources, or DMR, is now tasked with drafting legislation that would create the new entity and include language about the increase in fees on lobster harvesters, dealers and processors to pay for it.
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