History
Decades of conservation, generations of pride.
As early as the mid-1800s, Maine lobstermen were voluntarily returning egg-bearing females to the
sea, giving them a chance to spawn.
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It was common sense—an investment in the future. So why not allow these proven breeders spawn again after the eggs had dropped?
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Lobstermen began marking lobster's tail with a v-notch so they were illegal to harvest. Today, as new generations of harvesters follow in the footsteps of their fathers and grandfathers, continuing the practice of V-notching is more important than ever to protect and preserve the lobster resource for years to come.
Timeline
1872
The first law banning the taking egg-bearing females was passed. Prior to this law, many fishermen had already been voluntarily doing this but the formal protection was put in place to combat concerns of overfishing.
1874
Legal size limits are first enforced establishing a minimum legal size for lobsters to ensure that individuals have the chance to grow large enough to contribute to the population. Soon after a minimum size was established, a maximum size was set as large lobsters create more eggs and add to the genetic diversity of the population.
1917
Maine begins physically marking seed lobsters with a punch through the middle tail flipper. Punched lobsters became state property, and anyone found selling a marked lobster was fined.
1948
The punched middle flipper was changed to the V-notch in the middle flipper. In part this was due to the fact that punched lobsters were having a hard time molting with a hole punch in their middle flipper.
1975
The V-notch is moved to the middle right flipper. This remains the standard today.
1992
The definition of a V-notch is clarified: a V-notch is a straight-sided triangular cut tapering to a sharp point with a depth of at least 1/8 inch.
2002
V-notching becomes mandatory due to advocacy by the industry. Maine adopts a strict definition of v-notch to maximize protection of females. Maine's "zero tolerance" v-notch standard makes it illegal to land a female lobster if the center right flipper has any mark, no matter how small.