 Bean also entered the Maine lobster business in 2007 at the age of 66, starting with buying one wharf in Port Clyde and adding others in Tenants Harbor and on the island of Vinalhaven and relationships up and down the Maine coast to an annual peak purchase of over nine million pounds.In 2016 in a partial retirement move she turned over majority ownership of her lobster enterprises to her general manager and employees in an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP).With John Hathaway, in whose Shucks Maine Lobster business with an HPP processing method she is also invested, Bean took the lead in achieving sustainability certification for the entire Maine coast trap lobster fishery by meeting the standards of the Marine Stewardship Council as announced by its founder Rupert Howes and by Maine Governor Paul LePage on March 10, 2013 at the International Boston Seafood Show.