OUR STORY
THE NEW ENGLAND LOBSTER COMPANY began as a wholesale distributor of live Maine lobster in 1987, delivering to restaurants from Napa to Monterey Bay. After fifteen years serving a growing list of customers that included many of the Bay Area’s leading restaurants and retailers, we opened our doors to the general public in 2002 offering live, cooked, and frozen seafood out of our location in South San Francisco.
In October of 2011 we added our “We’re On A Roll” food truck and began serving our homemade lobster corn chowder, lobster, and crab rolls. The reception was astounding ̶ so much so that just a year later we moved to our present location on Cowan Road in Burlingame. We opened a retail seafood market and a casual New England-style eatery. Our menu also grew to include lobster and Dungeness crab plates, rolls, salads, and a variety of creative seafood fare.
After 33 years, New England Lobster continues to have live lobsters flown in daily and served in almost all of our dishes. We also provide catering for local events such as lobster and crab feeds. We take great pride in making all of our dishes from scratch. We promise you won't find a dining experience like ours anywhere else in the Bay Area; you may even think you’re in Maine.
MLA’s Statement:
Lobster is one of the most sustainable fisheries in the world due to the effective stewardship practices handed down through generations of lobstermen. These include strict protections for both the lobster resource and right whales. MLA is extremely disappointed that any group claiming to care about conservation and sustainability would give a poor rating to a fishery that has led the way in innovating safer gear and has not had a documented interaction with a right whale in nearly 20 years.
MLMC’s Statement:
Maine Lobster is one of the most sustainable seafoods in the world, harvested with care and dedication by people that have steadfastly sought to protect the health of the lobster stock and the vitality of the marine environment. Monterey Bay Aquarium’s decision ignores the industry’s long history of adapting gear and fishing practices to protect North Atlantic right whales and undermines the newly enacted federal regulations designed to provide additional protections.
Every day on the water, Maine lobstermen contend with the implications of climate change, including impacts on right whales, lobsters and other species critical to the trade. Industry members will continue to closely collaborate with a range of stakeholders – from policymakers and regulators to scientists and advocates – to ensure that Maine Lobster remains a locally-sourced sustainable product, enjoyed by millions of global consumers, caught by fishermen committed to doing things the right way.
Links to Assets around the issue:
- 'Understanding Assessments' Fact Sheet breaks down claims made in the Seafood Watch assessment
- Right Whale Fact Sheet provides quick facts about conservation efforts
- Right Whale Infographic provides facts and timeline for Maine Lobster's right whale conservation efforts
- Consumer Perception Fact Sheet summarizes survey data about consumers' awareness of sustainability labels
- Right whale video highlights efforts by the Maine Lobster fishery to protect right whales: