Here's The Hard Work That Goes Into Catching Your Lobster [PHOTOS]

Lobster boat captain Craig Stewart and sternman Tim Lovett start work before sunrise and haul traps for hours on end.

Making a living is harder now than ever before, as overhead costs for fuel, equipment, and bait steadily climb, while unprecedented lobster landings over the last several years have sent prices tumbling.

"We're struggling," said Stewart, a third-generation lobsterman who fishes off the coast of Portland."If I come in with 600 pounds, people will see that I made a $1000 for that day. They don't see that I just replaced the engine for $30,000 or that I paid over $300 for bait."

Stewart is one of Maine's 5,900 licensed lobster harvesters, who together haul in roughly 80% of U.S. landings of American lobster, worth more than $300 million.

To experience the life of a Maine lobsterman, we headed to Portland, Me., and spent a day aboard Stewart's 36-foot working lobster boat.