Maine Lobster Buoys: Colors, History & Regulations Explained

Maine has fewer than 5,200 licensed commercial lobstermen as of 2024, down from over 7,000 in 1997, who work to meet the growing market for fresh live lobsters in the USA and beyond. In 2024, Maine fishermen landed about 86 million pounds of lobster—the smallest catch in 15 years—but earned a record-breaking $528.4 million due to historically high dock prices averaging $6.14 per pound. About 3 million lobster traps are deployed in Maine’s waters, with 285,000 fewer traps set in 2024 compared to the previous year.

Lobster buoys help lobstermen locate their traps to haul in the crustaceans across the Maine coast. These distinctive markers serve as both practical tools and symbols of Maine’s maritime heritage, with each displaying unique color patterns that act as a fisherman’s signature on the water. Buoys float on the water surface and are attached with a rope running all the way from the trap.

Lobster Buoy Spindle Patent
Lobster Buoy spindle patent issued Feb. 10, 1981 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office

History of Maine Lobster Buoys

Native American Origins and Early Settlement

The early Puritans who settled around Maine first learnt of lobster from the Native Americans. Soon after, it became a prized food commodity across New England States. They are said to have been so plentiful before the arrival of the settlers that Native Americans had multiple functions for them from using lobsters as fishing baits and fertilizing their fields. In 1605, one of the crew members under Captain George Weymouth reported that they trapped about 30 great lobsters at night. Massachusetts town records still maintain a lot of references to lobsters and from the beginning conservation was always an issue.

Development of the Modern Lobster Fishery

By 1830, Connecticut and Boston smacks were visiting Harpswell to collect fresh lobsters and many other areas. The conventional fishery started with hoop-net pots crudely constructed but they were not efficient, leading to the introduction of lath pots. The construction of the lath pots hasn’t changed much from the shape of those still used in Maine’s coast today, where two fishermen back in the day could handle 25-50 lath pots. The lath has a length of four feet, 2-foot in width, 18 inches in height and semi-cylindrical in Maine.

As early as 1850, buoy lines or warps that lowered and hauled traps were in use, which at the time were 12 fathoms in length. This system established the foundation for modern Maine lobstering operations and the lobster fishing industry that defines Maine today.

How Maine Lobster Buoys Work

Function and Navigation

Lobster Buoys Mark the Spot 2

While the fog in waters around Maine comes and goes equally fast, the lobster buoys are always brightly painted and clearly identifiable. The lobster buoys sometimes are a safety and navigational threat or some minor inconvenience to cruising sailors. Millions of lobster traps can be seen in Maine waters and whether in groups or together, they are well marked by the huge numbers of lobster buoys. Trap limits have been put in the recent past but the buoys have continued to go up as lots of lobstermen utilize the maximum trap numbers allowed to them.

Every buoy in the waters is always attached to a line, a long one, which is known as the potwarp to either a group of traps or just a single trap weighted on the ocean’s bottom. The modern buoys are Styrofoam or plastic made and painted, sometimes manifesting a plastic or wooden handle around the middle.

Importance for Identification and Territory

The use of the lobster buoy is important in lobster fishing. It marks the place a fisherman has set a trap and comes attached by a line or rope to a triple, pair or single group of lobster traps on the ocean’s bottom. Having patterns and colors unique to a person on the buoys is important, which is the signal appearing on a boat that allows a patrol marine officer or crew and anyone else to identify the owner of the buoys. This lowers chances of theft.

Maine Lobster Buoy Laws and Regulations

Legal Requirements for Lobster Fishing

It’s important to note it’s illegal in Maine to take or fish for lobsters using any other technique except the normal lobster traps allowed, or fishing from any other platform except a vessel; vessels in this case do not include docks.

Color Pattern and Marking Requirements

While choosing the color of the buoy you must ensure the color or color patterns are unique to you and no other lobsterman is using them. The lobsterman has to be permanently and clearly discernible with the licensed number of the lobsterman. The color design of the buoy has to be clearly displayed on the boat through two unique ways:

  1. Hull Display: The color design can be displayed on the hull’s two sides or basically painted on any of the panels on either side. It should then be attached to the forward topside of the boat in a way that it can be seen without a problem on either side.
  2. Color Strip Requirements: The color also has to be a solid 4-inch color strip in height with a length of 18 inches abutting another hue on the longer side to create a rectangle, including a black border of one inch on every side.

The method of displaying the lobster buoys color design includes ensuring the buoy is about 12 inches in length and mounted in a way that the design of the color is perfectly clear on all the boat’s sides. Buoys must be minimum 3.5 inches in diameter and length (per Maine DMR regulations).

Penalties and Enforcement

It’s also illegal in Maine to transfer, raise, set or lift a lobster buoy unless it has been well marked with the license number given allowing a lobsterman to fish.

Above all, it’s unlawful for a licensed owner or anyone, including the Marine Patrol Office not only to possess, transfer, lift, raise or in any way molest a lobster buoy, lobster car, lobster warp or trap. Such adjudication attracts three years mandatory license loss. It’s worth noting that a lobster buoy, warp, car or trap can be removed or moved from the shores or waters of the State of Maine to return the lobster gear to the real or licensed owner, including disposing lobster gear properly by any individual with written permission of a Marine Patrol Officer.

Federal Whale Protection Requirements

Anyone considering fishing lobster in coastal waters of Maine from the Exemption Line to the head of tide, need to meet certain options of Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan (ALWTRP). This includes ensuring the lobster buoy is fixed to a buoy line using a weak link with a breaking strength that does not exceed 600 pounds. Also, every buoy line has to be created completely with a sinking line.

For complete details on Maine lobster laws, licensing requirements, size limits, and penalties, see our comprehensive guide: Maine Lobster Laws – So What’s the Catch?

How Maine Lobster Buoys Are Made: Materials Through History

Fishing Buoy
Weathered fishing buoy on the docks of Rockport, Massachusetts.

The Evolution of Lobster Buoy Materials

Time PeriodPrimary MaterialsHow They Were MadeKey Characteristics
Pre-1890sWood (primarily cedar)Hand-carved; Lathe-turnedDurable, individually crafted, served as lobsterman’s unique “signature”
1890s–1940sGlass Bottles + WoodRepurposed bottles with rubber stoppersLow cost, readily available, quick to make, pure fishermen’s ingenuity
1940s–1970sStyrofoam + WoodMass-producedLightweight, inexpensive, but required frequent repainting
1970s–PresentHard PlasticsInjection moldedHighly durable, permanent colors, safer for boat propellers

The Traditional Wooden Era (Pre-1890s)

Originally, the initial lobster buoys were created out of wood, mostly Northern White Cedar before they were painted using a number of colors. Lots of lobstermen derived a lot of pleasure from creating perfectly shaped, painted and whimsical lobster buoys which made them pieces of unique art. These traditional wooden buoys represented far more than fishing equipment—they served as each fisherman’s “nautical coat of arms,” with distinctive color schemes that identified both the fisherman and his territory.

The Glass Bottle Innovation (1890s-1940s)

This was before glass bottles with stoppers made of rubber entered the scene. As Maine’s lobster industry expanded rapidly in the late 1800s, fishermen developed an ingenious cost-saving solution: repurposing glass bottles as makeshift buoys. This practice emerged from the convergence of several factors:

  • Industrial bottle production: Machine-made bottles became cheap and abundant for the first time
  • Rubber stopper technology: New inventions like the Hutchinson Patent Stopper (1879) provided reliable sealing
  • Industry growth: Expanding lobster operations created urgent demand for more gear
  • Economic necessity: Newcomers and expanding operations needed affordable alternatives to hand-carved wood

Lobstermen would select sturdy beer, soda, or medicine bottles, seal them with rubber stoppers, and attach pot warps around the neck. While not as durable as wood, these bottle buoys could be assembled in minutes at virtually no cost.

Important distinction: These working Maine bottle buoys differed completely from the decorative Japanese glass fishing floats often incorrectly labeled as “lobster buoys” in antique shops today.

Modern Materials and Current Practices

Currently, most lobster buoys are Styrofoam made, each of them carrying the initials of the lobsterman as well as the lobster number. The buoys are still color painted in hues unique to a particular lobsterman. In fact, the color patterns are so unique that lobstermen have maintained the patterns for decades of fishing for the crustacean across Maine’s waters.

Lobster buoys made of wood are rarely used across the Maine waters since they cause damage to boat props. Lobster buoys made of plastic are readily available with majority of buoys today made of the popular material.

Material Comparison:

  • Styrofoam buoys: Inexpensive and lightweight, but require lots of repainting although they can last for years
  • Plastic buoys: Also good but sometimes are run over and get crunched and lose their shape, though much safer for boat propellers than wooden alternatives
  • Wooden buoys: Now primarily decorative, as they pose risks to modern boat propellers
Lobster Buoys in Maine

Apart from the patterns and materials, lobster buoys are of diverse patterns. The use of plastic or Styrofoam buoys replaced the use of wooden ones due to their inexpensive nature.

Seasonal Operations and Current Practices

Presently, most of the fishermen haul their lobster buoys and traps between July and August to ensure they are in the best shape possible before lobster fishing in fall. When winter is excessively cold, the pots are usually removed even as some fishing takes place each month across the year. Lobstering continues year-round in Maine under strict regulations managed by the state.

Environmental Considerations

Modern lobster buoy materials raise environmental concerns that didn’t exist in the wooden era. Styrofoam buoys break apart in storms, creating marine debris that wildlife may mistake for food. Even durable plastic buoys contribute to ocean plastic pollution when damaged or lost.

The industry continues to lose gear annually, though exact current numbers vary. This “ghost gear” poses ongoing environmental challenges that the industry addresses through improved materials and retrieval programs. Learn more about sustainable lobster fishing practices.

Painted Lobster Bouys

Current environmental pressures also include climate change impacts, with warming Gulf of Maine waters affecting lobster populations and distribution patterns. The 2024 season saw significant challenges including storm damage to working waterfronts, highlighting the industry’s vulnerability to climate-related events.

Conclusion: Maine’s Maritime Heritage

Whether plastic, Styrofoam or wooden, buoys are a beautiful sight but very critical in lobster fishing. Maine lobster buoys represent far more than simple fishing equipment—they embody centuries of maritime tradition, individual craftsmanship, and adaptive ingenuity. From hand-carved cedar works of art to repurposed glass bottles to modern plastic markers, these colorful beacons tell the story of Maine’s evolution from subsistence fishing to America’s premier lobster fishery.

The color patterns are so distinctive that lobstermen have maintained the same designs for decades of fishing, creating an unbroken link between past and present. Each buoy carries forward traditions established by generations of Maine fishing families while meeting the practical demands of modern commercial fishing.

Experience Maine’s lobster tradition firsthand: Order fresh, sustainably-caught Maine lobster delivered directly from the waters marked by these iconic buoys. Shop Maine Lobster →

Works Cited and References

Current Data and Statistics (2024-2025)

Government and Regulatory Sources

News and Media Coverage

Historical Sources

Industry Organizations and Associations

Research and Analysis

Technical and Manufacturing History

Glass Float and Maritime Equipment History

Tourism and Cultural Sources

Archives and Museums

Comments

        1. Glass bottles were used as lobster buoys from roughly the 1890s through the 1940s. During this 50-year period, lobstermen ingeniously repurposed common beer, soda, and medicine bottles as makeshift buoys. This practice emerged when the lobster industry was booming and fishermen needed more gear quickly and cheaply. They would seal the bottles with rubber stoppers to make them airtight and buoyant, then attach their trap lines. It was a practical, cost-free solution that could turn any sturdy bottle into a working buoy in just minutes. This era ended after World War II when superior synthetic materials like Styrofoam and plastic became available.

          Reply to Lobster Louie

    2. Styrofoam buoys may be inexpensive, but they do a lot of harm in the ocean. My husband and I have seen thousands of styrofoam pieces from these painted styrofoam buoys washed up on Plum Island beach. Sea storms break loose these buoys as well as the lobster traps. We have seen about 50 lobster traps washed up on this beach also. The styrofoam pieces are ingested by marine wildlife as they think that they are fish eggs. Even plastic buoys are contributing to plastic trash when they break up from a storm’s rough waves furthering killing marine wildlife. There should be a law requiring all lobster and crab buoys be made of wood. It is a horrible and terrible thing that lobster buoys are made of styrofoam and plastic, killing marine wildlife constantly as they for sure will break up into pieces.

      Reply to Louise Barnes

      1. I so share your thoughts and concerns!

        Ban them…

        Climate change concerns are real but will take us years to address…banning plastics and styrofoam can happen now.

        Reply to Giles Perry

  2. My family fished out of Kittery Point, Maine. Their buoys were a work of art. My dad bought logs with the bark on them an cut them into smaller pieces maybe 1-11/2 ft pieces. Put them in his lathe an used his chisel as the wood spinner around to turn it into a nice rounded shape that was about 4 inches an gradually the shaped evolved making it into a full sized bouy. He then burned two lines an inside he burnt his nam Carlson on that yellow strip an the Brest was red. The handle was yellow with a red tip. Wish I could find one, his dads were all yellow but the same shape next my brother used my granddads yellow. My cousins son was the lady in our family dying at sea, Chris Tobey.

    Reply to Barbara Shearer

  3. During our first trip out to Monhegan that the traps had 2 buoys. One with a plain dowel, it the other seemed to have a ball at the end of the dowel. Why the difference?

    Reply to Bob McKane

  4. Hello everyone! I’m hoping to find out some information about this Buoy. Has anyone here heard of a company, store or artist named “Maine Lobster Buoys” from Cape Neddick, Maine? Many many years ago when I was in Rockport, I bought it from an old antique shop.

    So it measures 22 inches it’s painted black and white. It has this wooden hand painted yellow tag tied to it with the information “Main lobster buoys‘s Neddick Maine” and it has a serial/ID number: 1467K

    Any information or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

    Reply to Dennis Tezcan
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