The Maine Lobster Marketing Collaboration wants to the world to know where to find the highest quality lobster with the most sustainable harvesting. What makes Maine Lobster unique? • Maine lobster is a culinary icon and economic powerhouse, employing thousands of Mainers and contributing more than $1 billion to the state’s economy each year. • The industry symbolizes the very essence of Maine – pristine waters, a rugged coast, premium products, hard work, and a legacy that reaches back more than 400 years. • This year, Maine lobstermen landed more than 120 million pounds of lobster with a record value of $457 million. • The industry is growing abroad, too. U.S. exports of live or processed lobster to China climbed from $2.1 million in 2009 to $90.5 million in 2014—and Maine accounts for more 80 percent of all U.S. lobster. • Lobster is a valuable resource in a vital ecosystem—and Maine lobstermen were practicing conservation long before “sustainability” became a buzzword. • For nearly 150 years, the Maine lobster industry and state government have worked collaboratively to manage this precious resource, building it into what we have today.