Portland, ME – The Maine Lobstering Union, which earlier this year bought a lobster pound and processing plant, this month launched a Website where people can have union-caught lobster shipped anywhere in the country. “We have been fighting years for a sustainable fishery here in Maine, and now we are fighting for sustainable fishermen for future generations to come,” David Sullivan, manager of the union’s lobster207.com mail-order business, told the Portland Press-Herald. “That means diversifying our business operations, owning as much of the supply chain as possible, and taking advantage of our strengths, working with our union brothers and sisters.” Not only are the crustaceans caught by the union’s 400 members, but the rest of the supply chain is completely unionized, from trucking to packing to shipping. The union can still sell lobster for less than competing businesses by cutting out the middlemen and negotiating discounted shipping rates from UPS, Sullivan said. About 80% of orders so far have come from union members, he added. Read more
