Time series data on catch and effort for the American lobster (Homarus americanus) from the state of Maine during the period 1933 to 1974, as well as mean annual sea surface temperatures for the same period were examined by means of a polynomial distributed lag model. The model was described and shown to be sufficiently flexible to take into account environmental influences over specific life history stages as well as over the entire life history of the species. The significance of lagged temperature effects and the fit of the model to the observed data were demonstrated.