ROCKPORT — Following days of gale force winds in late November, the skies cleared and the seas calmed, lending a perfect morning for Rockport lobstermen to tend to their traps. Some left the dock at 4:30 in the morning, some at 7 a.m., some at 9 a.m. They headed out into Penobscot Bay, toward Owls Head, North Haven or Lincolnville, hoping for a substantial haul after the weather had sequestered them on land.

They were not disappointed: in the four days since their last trap checks, many lobsters had crawled through the net, lured in by the bait.

It took the lobstermen — and a few lobsterwomen — a good portion of the day, but one by one, 13 boats returned to Rockport Harbor, each with a healthy harvest.

With the price set at $3.90 a pound and $4 to $4.25 a pound for “select” lobsters (larger), the collective haul grew well into thousands of dollars as the catch was transferred from boat holds to waiting crates on the wharf. The price was not great, but not as bad as last few years, when lobster prices bottomed out and it was hardly worth going out at all.

As they pulled up to the commercial fishing docks, their engines grumbled and throbbed, every one of the boats was as individual as their owners. Their owners and sternmen, in their orange and yellow foul weather pants, worked intently, slipping in the jokes and friendly insults to each other as they lifted and tied crates, and hosed off the dirty decks.

Because winter was moving in, a number of them had returned to the harbor with crates stacked high in the cockpits.

From the boats, they lifted those crates to pavement with the hoist, and then transferred them again by hand to the back of trailers and trucks to be hauled home and stacked yet again, this time in the yard for the winter.

Some fishermen were hauling all their traps, done for the season.

Others just hauled traps that were kept further offshore, five and six miles out, while maintaining some traps closer to Rockport Harbor, choosing to lobster through the winter but closer to shore during the rough weather.

A few were turning their eyes to the urchin season, which began Dec. 2 in Zone 1 (Rockport is at the northern end of Zone 1, with the boundary line of Zone 2 bisecting Penobscot Bay).

Rockport has carved out a portion of its east harborside to commercial fisheries, an area protectively dedicated by the town decades ago as Maine’s shorefront started getting gobbled up by the residential real estate market and Maine’s working waterfront shrunk.

The town has allocated inner harbor moorings to 14 fishermen and the commercial fishing docks are next door to Rockport Marine, a working boatyard.

The harbor itself is uniquely configured. Long, deep and well protected from northwest and northeast winds, the boats are moored either in the inner harbor or outer harbor, depending on how lucky boat owners might be or how big their boats are.

The harbor is, however, exposed to southerly winds and storms from that direction can send waves and swells up past the monument (a rock that marks the harbor entrance) all the way to the old granite wharves that line what historically was an industrial landscape.

The fishermen and Rockport Marine carry that working legacy forward.

But in November, the harbor’s activity has slowed down. As the lobstermen tended to their work, harbor ducks dropped in for a landing, sliding and splashing on the top of the water.

Two seals kept a respectful distance from the dock, one of them eying the operations for some time.

“That’s a fur-headed seal,” said Alan Gustafson. “See how big his head is? He should be in Canada.”

The seal did have a blockier head, and had been in the harbor off and on for a year or two, said Gustafson, who manages to Rockport dock operations for Oyster River Lobster, Inc., the Warren-based business that buys the lobster from the fishermen.

Gustafson, of Somerville, and his helper, Scott Whitman, of Washington, supply the fishermen with bait and crate up their harvest, sending some to retail in Warren and Madison, some of it wholesale to Canada for processing.

The seal seemed to listen to Gustafson, a familiar voice on the water.

“Looks like he’s got no eyes,” he said. “Maybe that’s why he’s here.”

A Coastal Fuel truck lumbered down to the waterfront, pulling up by the large diesel tank that sits above ground on the wharf.

David Pettee climbed down from the cab and fastened the hose, filling the empty tank so that the boats coming in could fuel up for the next morning’s work.

Pettee said the lobster were starting to move further out into the deeper water, preparing for winter and the lobstermen had a lot of work to do, hauling in the traps.

“You know the business pretty well,” I said to him.

“I’ve been involved,” he said, gazing out to the bay where one returning lobster boat was just appearing on the horizon line. It looked far away, but soon it loomed large, moving fast toward Rockport’s inner harbor.

The business of lobster has been a roller coaster for the fishermen, from the flush years to the lean years.

The state of Maine stepped up its investment this year, allocating more than $7 million over the next five years to invest in the marketing of lobster.

Maine Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher announced Nov. 25 the appointment of a board for the newly created Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative, an entity formed in October as a result of legislation to provide for the marketing and promotion of Maine Lobster.

“Maine Lobster is an iconic American product that has a long history of feeding seafood lovers around the world while fueling Maine’s coastal economy,” said Maine Governor Paul LePage, in a state-produced news release.

“Maine’s lobster industry has a rich tradition of independent fisherman dedicated to sustainably harvesting this deliciously sweet seafood. We are confident that our industry’s cooperative marketing investment and direct involvement on the new MLMC board from lobstermen, dealers and processors will help drive up profitable demand for branded Maine Lobster and further strengthen the overall Maine economy.”

“We sought out a board of leaders, innovators, marketing experts, harvesters, processors, dealers, small business owners and people who are eager to re-energize the Maine Lobster brand,” said Commissioner Keliher. “I am confident that they will be successful in setting an effective marketing course for the future and creating a new high level of excitement and demand for Maine Lobster.”

The following were named the new MLMC board:

• Karan Cushman, President of Cushman Creative, a cross-media branding company

• George Gervais, Commissioner of the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development

• Frank Gotwals, Commercial lobsterman and board member of the Stonington Lobster Coop

• Patrick Keliher, Commissioner of the Maine Department of Marine Resources

• Luke Holden, President and Founder of Luke’s Lobster and a Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Cape Seafood LLC

• Emily Lane, Vice President of Sales, Calendar Island Maine lobster and former Maine Lobster Promotion Council board member

• Peter Miller, Commercial lobster harvester, owner of Miller’s Wharf Lobster and former MLPC board member

• Paul Paradis, Bar Harbor town councilor and owner of Paradis True Value in Bar Harbor

• Hugh Reynolds, Owner of Greenhead Lobster in Stonington, one of Maine's largest purveyors of live, fresh lobster

• Vaughn A. Stinson, Chief Executive Officer of the Maine Tourism Association

By law, the MLMC board consists of 11 members, including representatives from the lobster harvester, dealer and processor sectors, as well as public members with a marketing background. To date, 10 of those members have been appointed, and Keliher, who led the board selection process, continues to review nominees for the 11th spot.

Their first meeting was held last week in Hallowell, with the focus on process, according to Jeff Nichols, spokesman for the Maine Department of Marine Resources. The next meeting is Dec. 17.

The funding for the marketing derives from license fees from harvesters and processors, he said.

Rockport fishing boats and their owners

Margella, Adam Scott 

Uni, Brad Scott

Becca Megan, Kenny Dodge

Mamosa, Matt Samuels

Wait and Sea, David Leland, Jr.

Novia, Gray Hanna

Bruce Donovan, Bruce Dodge

Frankie D., Jeffrey Dodge

Frankie Dodge, Brenda Lee

For Pete’s Sake, Jeff Rego

The Laboat III, Danny Dodge

Kerry Ann, Patrick Annis

Black Label, Scott Lermond

Old Habits, David Leland, Sr.

Ern, Gordan Best

Reach Editorial Director Lynda Clancy at lyndaclancy@penbaypilot.com; 207-706-6657