YORK -- Gov. John Baldacci says the tanking price of lobster underscores how the market is interconnected with the global economy in ways that weren't understood previously.

A combination of consumers' declining appetite along with tight credit that killed demand from Canadian processors caused a drastic reduction in value of Maine's signature seafood.

Baldacci says new figures from the Department of Marine Resources illustrate the severity of the problem: Maine lobstermen received less than $20 million for their catch in October, compared to more than $60 million in the same month in 2005, which was a record year for value.

The governor, who spoke Thursday at a lobster conference in York, has set up a task force that'll be led by Ron Phillips from Coastal Enterprises in Wiscasset.

11:02 a.m.

Scientists, fishery managers and members of the lobster industry from New England and Canada are gathering in York this morning for a two-day conference on the future of the lobster fishery.

The conference was to begin at 11 a.m. and Gov. John Baldacci is scheduled to deliver the keynote address at noon.

Sponsored by the Gulf of Maine Lobster Foundation, the conference at the Stage Neck Inn is intended to share the latest scientific research on the lobster population, as well as discuss the economy and the lobster market, environmental issues and other challenges facing the fishery. The event is billed as the first in a series of meetings to be held in the region.

The lobster industry is by far Maine's most valuable fishery. The state's 7,000 lobstermen, as well as wholesalers and suppliers, are struggling this fall in the and face of a drop in global demand and prices that have tanked to a 20-year low.

In addition to the privately arranged conference in York, Baldacci last month announced the creation of a state task force to study the future of the lobster industry. That task force has not yet begun meeting.