Maine’s outgoing Marine Resources Commissioner Pat Keliher is sounding the alarm about the potential impacts newly-imposed tariffs on Canadian imports could soon have on Maine’s multi-billion dollar lobstering industry.

“The lobster industry in Maine and Canada has long-standing cooperative trade relations,” Keliher said in a statement provided to Spectrum News. “Those relations are critical to the health of the lobster industry on both sides of the border. Here in Maine, the lobster industry is a multi-billion dollar industry that supports tens of thousands of jobs and is the primary economic engine for our coastal economy.”

The reaction follows President Donald Trump’s initial tariffs against Canada and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s retaliatory tariffs on some U.S. imports.

Keliher says U.S. tariffs on Canadian lobster will likely lower boat prices — the amount fishermen are paid at the dock for their catch — as dealers absorb the extra cost. 

“A reduced boat price resulting from the tariff will compound the economic challenges they already face from increasing fuel and bait costs,” said Keliher. “And will undermine their already stretched bottom lines.”

He also warns the tariffs will be “felt by everyone in the supply chain” — threatening the availability of Maine’s working waterfronts and the economic stability of Maine’s coastal communities.

“In addition to the financial burden this tariff will place on the Maine lobster industry, there will be other costs as well,” said Keliher. “The availability of working waterfront, which is already extremely limited, will be further eroded by the damage caused to Maine’s lobster industry.

Canada has not yet issued retaliatory tariffs on U.S. Lobster, but if they do Keliher says it will have devastating impacts. 

“If Canada responds with retaliatory tariffs on Maine lobster and other seafood, making our products more expensive and less competitive in the Canadian marketplace,” said Keliher. “It will further weaken the economic stability of Maine’s critically important seafood industry.”