Events Lobster Lobster statistics

Nations Oldest Retail Lobster Web Site Marks 14th Anniversary

Posted on October 6, 2011
Cape Cod, Mass. (Oct. 5, 2011) – The Lobster Trap Company & Lobsters-Online.Com today announced the anniversary of its 14th year of selling live lobster with overnight delivery to retail customers all across the United States, making it the oldest Lobster web site in continuous operation.
Launched in 1997, the retail lobster web site became an instant success with its first live-lobster sale coming from a Florida retiree who had recently moved to Tampa from Connecticut and was missing New England lobster.
 
The Lobsters-Online web site today.
 
Designed and built by founder Wayne Howe of Boston, the web site was developed originally as a prototype to show off a new e-commerce system and to encourage seafood wholesale vendors to move their 1-800 telephone order business onto the web. Howe was hoping to encourage the seafood outlets to employ the e-commerce system Howe was selling.  Faced with resistance from the wholesalers, who rebuffed his efforts with expressions such as — “Web, what web?  We are fishermen. We don’t know anything about the Internet.”  — Howe decided to take the prototype and use it to create a web based retail seafood business.
Contracting with seafood suppliers, Lobsters-Online.com went live with the click of a mouse.  And within minutes, orders began arriving.
First Sale in Minutes
“I saw the first e-mail alert and couldn’t believe a sale had come in.  We just couldn’t stop smiling,” Howe said.  “It seemed almost unbelievable that someone found the web site so fast.  Back then, e-commerce was supposed to be only for the big retail players.  Yet here we were, a small business able to take a credit card online, authorize it, and then deliver live seafood overnight to anywhere in the country.”
Sales grew steadily until the millennium, when orders came in so fast and so strong during December that it doubled sales for the entire year.
“Even with the automated web site, we were working 24 hours a day to manage all the orders for the holidays and the millennium,” Howe said.  “We needed to request larger trucks to pick up all the orders.  That holiday period was a real deal changer and it helped us map out the successful sales strategy in use today. Repeat business quickly became the engine that kept our sales growing.”
Satisfied Customers
“We have thousands and thousands of satisfied customers who buy from us every year,” Howe said.
Lobsters-Online.Com has served hundreds of thousands of customers and has shipped millions of dollars worth of lobster and seafood. Sales have increased an average of 25 percent per year since the year 2000.
Logan Clark, CEO of the LobsterTrap Company, headquartered in Bourne, Massachusetts on Cape Cod, formed the partnership with Lobsters-Online in 2001.  The 35-year-old Lobster Trap Company is among the largest seafood wholesalers in the country and it boasts sparkling, brand new plant facilities capable of storing thousands of pounds of lobster in seawater tanks. 
Lobster Trap in Maine and Cape Cod
Today the Lobster Trap Company boasts its own lobster boat docks and facilities in Machiasport, ME; Steuben, ME; and Cape Cod.  This ensures that all Lobsters-Online.Com lobsters are fresh off the boats, onto the docks and into the Lobster Trap Company facilities.  There are no middlemen to drive up the price or delay shipping.
 
Lobster Trap Company trucks loading at Cape Cod facility.
 
Featuring all the best seafood New England has to offer – including hard to find jumbo lobster — the Lobsters-Online.Com web site is open 24 hours a day with fresh live lobster available year round.  Customers that order by 2:30 p.m. EST can receive their lobsters the very next day.  Deliveries are available Tuesday through Saturday.  
© Wayne Howe 2011
Events Fishermen Lobster Maine Seafood, shellfish and Maine lobster

October is Maine Lobster Month

Posted on September 26, 2011

 

Maine and lobster often go together in people’s perception, so it was  an easy step for Maine Gov. Paul R. LePage to  today declare October “Maine Lobster Month.”
The Maine lobster harvest for the year nears its peak in October, according to Gov. LePage.  And since Maine is the home of the American lobster, the governor said it is time to celebrate.  And not just celebrate the joys of lobster to the palate, but the pride for the Maine lobster fishermen as well.
Maine Lobster and Steamer Clams a New England Favorite
 There are 4,260 licensed Maine lobster fisherman. In 2010 they caught a record 93 million pounds of lobster worth more than $310 million. This year officials are hoping for another record harvest.

 “Many people think of summer when they think of lobsters, but the fall is prime time for harvesting lobster, and it’s a crucial time for the industry,” says Dane Somers, executive director of the Maine Lobster Promotion Council. “Each year Maine lobsterman haul in about fifty percent of their annual catch in September, October and November, with October usually seeing the heaviest harvest.”
Gov. LePage said Maine’s picturesque harbors capture a special quality as lobster boats come and go in the pristine, natural environment.  The state leads in lobster fishery conservation and sustainability practices.  The Maine lobster fishery is one of the oldest and most important segments of the Maine economy.
 
A Steuben, Me. lobster boat leaves the dock.
While the harvest may reach its peak in October, live lobster are available year round.
During the winter the catch is stockpiled in large, natural salt water lobster pounds.  This is why lobster lovers can enjoy baking and steaming live lobster year round.  Many thousands of people enjoy lobster all during the holiday season and when winter snow is on the ground.


Food and Wine Fall Harvest Festival
But for now, folks lucky enough to visit Maine in October can enjoy both Mother Nature’s magnificent fall foliage and a fresh caught lobster dinner.  Portland, Me. is hosting a food and wine fest, Harvest on the Harbor Oct. 20-22, 2011.  If you can’t get to Maine,  fresh Maine lobster can be ordered online in the winter, spring, summer and fall and shipped overnight anywhere in the country.  Celebrate Maine Lobster Month.
© Wayne Howe 2011

 

Fishermen Lobster statistics Maine

Machiasport a Popular Tourist Stop Famous for Lobster

Posted on September 15, 2011

 

People often ask what a Maine lobster fishing port is like.  Picturesque, quaint, and as if you are referring to Machiasport, older than America itself.  Machiasport, Maine is a popular tourist destination about an hour from Canada and a historic seaport, dating back to 1663. 
 
The Machias Bay  area — Machias and Machiasport Maine– had a rough beginning, even by Maine standards. The settlers saw buildings sacked three times during its early history.  Once by the French trying to kick the English out of Northern Maine, and later by the British during the Revolutionary War, and again during the War of 1812.
Lobster boats return to Machiasport, ME. facility at end of day.

 

The legendary June 1775 Naval Battle of Machias  was the first naval battle of the fight for independence  and led to the capture of a British schooner, the HMS Margaretta.  A small group of settlers, having attacked the British schooner by both land and from the coastal sloop Unity, were able to overcome the British and capture the ship.  Later in the war the British returned to burn parts of the town, though they were quickly chased back out to sea by the Militia. The area was attacked by a British Fleet again in 1814 and the fort destroyed a second time.  Later, the federal government rebuilt the fort during the Civil War, but no shots were ever fired.  Fort O’Brien, as it is called, now belongs to the state.
 
With a population of about 1,100 people,  Machiasport today is far more peaceful than its legendary past and is best known for its historical taverns, charming bed and breakfasts and its seafood, especially lobster.  And of course, its lobster fishermen.
 
The Lobster Trap Company operates four pounds and two buying stations located in Machiasport and Steuben Maine, providing access to 4,000,000 pounds of product. These subsidiaries are known as BBS Lobster Trap. In addition, the company operates numerous storage facilities throughout Canada providing holding capacities in excess of 2,000,000 pounds making orders of ANY SIZE possible.
 
The retail online web service leverages the high wholesale volume to provide customers with fresh, select grade, hard shell lobster that are strong and healthy.  This ensures that only the very best lobster make the trip across the country to a customers front door.  Since Lobster Trap buys direct from the fishermen, there are no middlemen.  The result is the best quality, price and service found anywhere online. 
 

The Lobsters-Online.com web site features great information about lobster along with information on how to steam lobster and steamer clams.

© Wayne Howe 2011