Lobster pride is causing debate

Associated Press

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CONCORD, N.H. — Maine is touting its lobsters as the best in its new "Certified Maine Lobster" program. But the head of the New Hampshire Commercial Fishermen's Association says lobster caught off the state's coast are just as tasty as those caught in Maine and that it's virtually impossible to tell the difference.

Comparing Maine and New Hampshire lobsters isn't like comparing Coke and Pepsi soft drinks, said Erik Anderson.

"There is a difference between Coke and Pepsi. But there is no difference between these lobsters," Anderson said. "They don't do anything different. They don't do anything more in the state of Maine versus any other place to enhance the taste of the lobster."

The Maine Lobster Promotion Council last week kicked off the program aimed at giving a boost to the Maine lobster industry.

The program, which is voluntary, encourages lobster dealers to attach plastic ties to their Maine lobsters with a trademarked "Certified Maine Lobster" logo. Lobstermen are being given rubber bands with the same phrase to keep the claws clamped together.

Dennis Bailey, a spokesman for the Maine Lobster Promotion Council, agreed that consumers would be hard-pressed to tell the difference between Maine and New Hampshire lobsters.

"However, if you're a tourist and they're given a choice between a Maine lobster and a New Hampshire lobster, I'll bet you anything they'll go with the Maine lobster," he said.

And when restaurant customers order a Maine lobster, that's what they should get, he said.

"We've noticed a sort of devaluing of the Maine lobster brand. It's on menus worldwide as 'Maine lobster,' but it's becoming almost like Kleenex or Xerox," he said. "They throw around the words 'Maine lobster' when they're not serving Maine lobster."

Bill Adler, executive director of the Massachusetts Lobstermen's Association, sees Maine's program as an annoyance.

What happens, he asks, when someone calls looking for 1,000 Maine lobsters and the lobster dealer doesn't have that many but has others from Canada and elsewhere in New England?

"What's he going to do, starting playing with the tags?" Adler asks.