Fresh Maine lobsters swimmin’ to Sonoma Soroptimist event

Time to get ‘cracking’ at the annual Soroptimists lobster feed|

Order your fresh or cooked lobster now – Soroptimists International of Sonoma Valley is taking orders for its annual fundraiser with lobsters flown in overnight and available on Saturday, Aug. 25.

All lobsters will weigh 1.5 pounds and cost $26.

All of the funds go to “improve the lives of women and girls with grants and scholarships for education,” according to event coordinators Juliette Andrews and Maida Herbst.

And, yes, you can order yours to come cooked or fresh and uncooked. Just call Andrews at 338-1874 or Herbst at 337-7673.

Pick up your lobsters from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 25 at the Atrium Building, 670 W. Napa St., Sonoma.

The lobsters will be fresh from Maine, where lobster fishers and the industry as a whole are suffering for a couple of reasons.

According to Dave Cousens of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association, “Climate change is going to kill us, in probably the next 30 (years),” as quoted in the New York Times on June 21. While in the last 30 years warming waters have been good for lobsters, last year’s “lobster landings dropped by 22 million pounds, to 11 million.” Now lobster fishers worry that the water might have warmed too hot for lobsters.

Then, according to CBS News, China is one of the Maine lobster industry’s primary markets, and China’s government has placed tariffs on Maine lobster in response to President Trump’s tariffs on Chinese products.

According to Annie Tselikis, executive director of the Maine Lobster Dealers Association, China buys about one fifth of American-caught lobster. Trump’s tariffs have hurt the American lobster industry and helped the Canadian lobster fishers. The European Union also placed some tariffs on American lobster while Canada made a new trade agreement with the European Union, slashing tariffs for Canadian products, again according to the New York Times of June 22.

Apparently nails from Missouri, whiskey from Virginia, and cranberries from Wisconsin, among other food and solid products, are suffering the same fates.

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