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At 101, she's still hauling lobsters with no plans to stop

Virginia Oliver Lobster catcher
Posted at 2:32 AM, Sep 16, 2021
and last updated 2021-09-16 07:26:54-04

More than 90 years after starting, Maine's oldest lobster harvester is still doing it at age 101.

Virginia Oliver is the oldest lobster fisher in the state and possibly the oldest one in the world. She still faithfully tends to her 200 traps off Rockland, Maine, with her 78-year-old son Max.

She started catching lobsters when she was 8, and she has no intention to stop.

"I've done it all my life, so I might as well keep doing it," Oliver told The Associated Press.

During her decades on the water, the lobster industry has transformed from working-class food to a delicacy. When she first started trapping lobsters, they cost 28 cents a pound. Today, the AP reports that lobsters are worth 15 times that.

Oliver also said she's concerned about the health of the lobster population, which she said is subject to heavy fishing pressure these days.