Meet One of Maine’s Youngest Lobster Fishermen

By David Howard
Photos by Tara Rice
Excerpt from our July 2024 issue

Thomas Dube was already wearing his orange Grundéns rain suit when I arrived at his home last fall, though he wasn’t quite ready for his afternoon fishing trip, as he still had a pot of ramen noodles to finish. He sipped his snack straight from the pot, not caring about the prospect of a full stomach on the open sea. It was a calm, clear day, but more to the point, “I’ve never been seasick,” he said. A veteran lobsterman, Thomas—better known in his Saco neighborhood of Camp Ellis as Tommy—exuded a confident air, that of an old man and the sea. Except he was nine years old and in fourth grade.

Tommy’s precociousness is a bit surprising until you consider his DNA. He’s a seventh-generation Maine lobsterman. In 1950, his paternal grandfather, for whom Tommy is named, built the Camp Ellis house where the Dubes live. As we sat in the kitchen, Tommy’s father, Seth—with a full beard, arm tattoos, and a thick Eastern accent—pulled up a photo of his great-great-great-grandfather hauling in a trap on his phone. There were magnets of tiny lobster buoys holding up photos on the refrigerator. Tommy’s maternal grandfather was also a lobsterman and now runs a lobster pound. His mother, Allyson, also works there.

One morning last fall, nine-year-old Tommy Dube of Saco helped out on his father’s lobster boat (and then dozed off after drinking a can of SpaghettiOs). Tommy has had a lobster license since he was eight, which gives him access to 10 traps. When he turns 11 next spring, the state will allow him to increase his quota to 50 traps.

A month after Tommy was born, his parents strapped him into a car seat and began taking him out on Seth’s lobster boat, Irish Lady“He always came with me,” Seth said. “I did the same thing with my grandfather and my father.” Growing up, Tommy took to the job intuitively. He started banding lobster claws at age 2 and has helped steer the boat since he could walk, first standing on a bait barrel, then a five-gallon bucket, and now a milk crate. As soon as he was eligible, at age 8, he received a lobster license that gave him 10 traps; soon after, his parents bought him his own boat. Today, he is one of 84 licensed lobstermen ages 10 and under, according to the Maine Department of Marine Resources.

Tommy and Seth go out together on one of their boats after school (and sometimes before, around 4:30 a.m.) and throughout the summer. On the day of our trip, the wheelhouse of Tommy’s boat, Sea huntingwas being rebuilt, so we took Seth’s. “You wouldn’t want to go in mine, you’d have to row,” Tommy joked. He pulled on his tall rubber boots and set off on his ATV, riding the few blocks to the dock, where he steered a skiff to pick up the lobster boat, then guided the bait barrel while Seth lowered it aboard. As we made our way toward the open water, Tommy climbed onto his milk crate to steer, wearing bright blue rubber gloves. Every move seemed well-practiced, almost routine, except when he was operating the hydraulics that pulled up traps as heavy as he was. During those times, Seth would occasionally step in to help. Tommy would measure the lobsters to determine if they were big enough to keep, always under his father’s supervision, then toss them into a trash can or throw them back into the sea.

He is, in many ways, just another kid. Even after the ramen, he got hungry and heated up a can of mini dumplings on the boat’s motor. He played with a crab and a fish that ended up in one of the traps before throwing them overboard. Sometimes he naps on the boat. Back home, he bikes around the neighborhood and plays wiffle ball with a neighbor. “They call him the mayor of Camp Ellis because he knows everyone’s business,” Allyson says with a laugh.

But unlike most kids, Tommy’s future is pretty much mapped out. When he turns 11 next spring, the state will allow him to increase his trap quota to 50, and the Dubes plan to homeschool him so he can spend more time on the water. He already earns a steady paycheck, which is automatically deposited into an account his parents set up for him. It may seem like a lot in a world where kids are already growing up fast. But Tommy exudes a palpable joy when he’s lobstering. “This is what he wants to do,” Allyson said. It’s almost as if he was born for the job.

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