Lobsters and Lighthouses

by Virginia Wright

Ted Panayotoff strides from boulder to boulder on his way to the tidy brick lighthouse sitting at the tip of a mile-long jetty in Rockland, Maine (pop. 7,609). For 104 years, Rockland Breakwater Light has flashed in concert with its sister, Owls Head Light, perched high on Rockland Harbor's opposite shore.

"You can't imagine how many people come out here and say, 'I've lived in Rockland all my life; I'm so excited to be able to go inside,'" says Panayotoff, historian for the Friends of Rockland Breakwater Light, which assumed care of the lighthouse after the U.S. Coast Guard transferred ownership to the city in 1998.

At nighttime and during inclement weather, the lighthouses flash warnings to pleasure and fishing vessels, including the hundreds of lobster boats that ply the icy waters of nearby Penobscot Bay. Lobsters and lighthouses are plentiful along Maine's 3,478-mile island-dotted coastline, but no town has the brine to challenge Rockland's claim as "Lobster Capital of the World"—or as a base for lighthouse exploration.

Rockland is the lobstering hub of Knox County, which harvests 20 million pounds of the crustacean yearly, fully one-third of Maine's total catch and more than any other place on earth.

"Most of those lobsters end up being shipped through Rockland," says Harbormaster Ed Glaser. "And Rockland lands more lobster bait—herring—than anywhere else."

Rockland native Richard Whitman, 42, has been fishing Penobscot Bay as long as he can remember. "It's a way of life," says Whitman, who harvests 20,000 to 25,000 pounds of lobster from August to December. "I get up around 4:30 in the morning and go to early afternoon" checking hundreds of lobster traps.

As a member of the Rockland Harbor Commission, Whitman represents the city's 162 commercial fishermen, half of whom drop baited traps onto the sea floor in hopes of hauling up boatloads of valuable lobster.

Rockland celebrates its hard-working fishermen and the coldwater crustacean each summer during the Maine Lobster Festival, a rollicking waterfront party where 25,000 pounds of lobster are devoured by up to 90,000 people. This year's event is scheduled Aug. 2 to 6.

A stroll down Main Street any time of year finds restaurants serving lobster steamed, stewed, baked, casseroled, stuffed into ravioli, and layered with bacon, lettuce and tomato in three-decker club sandwiches. Fanciful chest-high fiberglass lobsters stand like doormen at restaurant and store entrances. In one art gallery window, 18-carat gold lobster claw pendants clasp diamonds and pearls. Across the street, a jewelry store sign advertises "The World's Most Valuable Lobster." The 34-pound solid gold crustacean with green tourmaline eyes is modeled after a 4-pounder caught in Rockland in 1999 and bears a price tag of $100,000.

One of the Northeast's major fishing ports, Rockland was hit hard by the collapse of the New England fishery in the 1980s, but lobstering helped keep the city afloat. With few cod to eat young lobster, landings actually increased.

In the 1990s, an expansion of the Farnsworth Art Museum, renowned for its collection of Wyeth family works, ignited a downtown renaissance, attracting art galleries, restaurants and specialty shops. Long known for its commercial harbor, Rockland's reputation now includes art, fine dining and, with last summer's opening of the Maine Lighthouse Museum, an insightful and comprehensive look at lighthouse history.

Boasting a large collection of lighthouse lenses, the museum overlooks Rockland Breakwater and Owls Head lighthouses and is within a half-day's cruise of nine other beacons along Maine's coast. Founder Ken Black—whose nickname is "Mr. Lighthouse"—began collecting maritime and lighthouse artifacts after he took command of Rockland's Coast Guard Station in 1968. Through the years, he's amassed 750 items, including navigational instruments, buoys and rescue equipment, which are exhibited at the museum.

"Ken got the lighthouse preservation movement going long before it became fashionable," says Panayotoff, a lighthouse enthusiast who lives in nearby Camden (pop. 5,254).

Pleased with Rockland's revival, local residents are dedicated to preserving and honoring their maritime heritage, which includes a bustling harbor, ferries and fishermen, lobsters and lighthouses.

Visit www.therealmaine.com or call (800) 562-2529 for more information on Rockland.

Virginia Wright is a freelance writer based in Cumberland, Maine.

first appeared: 7/23/2006