As Mainers, we’re used to seeing the local lobster industry hitting the headlines and being the talk around town. As a state filled with working wharves and hard-working fishermen, the lobster and fishing industry supports our local economies and communities.

Recently, however, the lobster industry here in Maine has been in the spotlight but not for the positive reasons we’re used to.

Whole Foods & Maine Lobster

As our buddy Chris has explained, the major grocery chain Whole Foods has sided with environmentalist groups wrongly putting blame on lobster for the decline of the North Atlantic right whale population.

As Chris mentions, the grocery store has now taken lobster from the Gulf of Maine off the menu of hundreds of its stores nationwide, even though no whale has died from the result of Maine lobster.

There is now a push to boycott Whole Foods and stand up for Maine’s lobstering community.

If you want to support our local lobstering communities, there are ways to be involved.

Bar Harbor Buoy Tree Supports Maine Lobster Industry

For months now, there have been ongoing legal battles over fishing regulations and debates over Maine lobstering and its effect on the right whale population.

In support of hardworking fishermen, the Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce hosted its first Holiday Lobster Buoy Tree Lighting, which was held tonight on Nov. 30 in Harborview Park.

The 10-foot tree is covered in buoys donated by local community members and businesses who purchased $20 buoys, with proceeds going to the Maine Lobstermen’s Associations (MLA). The local community stands behind this project, and even some of the buoys are decorated by kiddos in local elementary schools, according to News Center Maine.

If you weren’t able to make it to the tree lighting tonight but you still want to support our local fishermen and the MLA, you can learn more on the town’s buoy tree page, where you’re able to donate a buoy through Dec. 16 or even make a monetary donation.

We stand with and support our local fishermen and lobstermen!!!

41 Maine AF Tattoos

Check out these pieces done by tattoo artists from all through the 207 and beyond. Ink on lifelong Mainers and those who have moved around and wanted to take a piece of Vacationland with them. 

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Even with all of these resources, however, the best cure for food poisoning is preventing it in the first place. To give you an idea of what human foods can be dangerous, Stacker has put together a slideshow of 30 common foods to avoid. Take a look to see if there are any that surprise you.

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