STONINGTON, ME – Contrasting the stark beauty of the Downeast Maine seacoast with the stark reality of earning a living there, Life by Lobster, a new hour-long documentary by independent filmmaker Iain McCray Martin takes you inside the lives of five young lobster fishermen determined to pursue this proud traditional vocation against steadily mounting obstacles.
Why? Because in Stonington, a blue-collar fishing town at the southernmost tip of the Blue Hill peninsula, lobstering is king, generating nearly $30 million in annual revenues to the 300-plus boats that fish out of this port. It is the economic engine that drives the entire economy of this remote, coastal island community.
The rewards can be great – lobstering has been good here for as long as these young fishermen have been alive. But things are changing. Record landings have tapered off, fuel and bait prices have soared, and a prolonged global recession has sent lobster prices plunging to levels not seen since the 1970s.
Against this backdrop, Mac, 21, and four more of his high school classmates are each trying to carve out their own niche in this industry steeped in tradition, tightly self-regulated, and fiercely competitive. It's not easy, and some of them probably won't make it.
Life by Lobster includes extraordinary behind-the-scenes access to the principal characters and their lives – both on and off the water – and features dramatic footage compiled over three years of filming, supported by a driving original soundtrack.
While the story is uniquely Maine, many of the issues addressed in Life by Lobster are echoed in dinner table discussions all across the country. Will my children have the same opportunities I had? Should I go to college or learn a trade? What happens if this all doesn't work out?
Tough questions, tough choices, and no easy answers. But for the characters of Life by Lobster, that's just another day out on the water. "There are no guarantees."
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