A New Hampshire fishing vessel which periodically sold its catch in Maine has decided to forfeit its Maine landings license and not land its catch in the state because of Maine's bycatch lobster landings law.

The F/V Anne Marie routinely catches 50-100 pounds of lobster on fishing trips of 2-4 days.  The lobsters may be legally retained under federal law, and both Massachusetts and New Hampshire - the vessel's other options for port of landing - permit bycatch lobster landings.

However, Maine prohibits vessels with a Maine state landing permit from retaining lobsters - even if the lobsters are harvested in federal waters, and even if the vessel has no intention of landing in Maine on a given fishing trip.

Anne Marie owner Fanel Dobre decided bycatch lobsters were more valuable than the privilege to offload his catch in the state of Maine, and returned his landing license to the State.

In 2006, the Anne Marie sold over $50,000 of groundfish in Maine, translating to $100,000 in economic impact statewide.  Its rotating crew of 6 are all Maine residents.