It was summer 2012, and the Havener family was having a lobster feed.

Pat Havener noticed that her niece’s dogs were climbing all over the picnic table, trying to get to the lobster. That gave her an idea.

She made some dog biscuits with lobster in them – not lobster stock, but real lobster meat.

The price of lobster had plummeted that year, and Havener and her husband, a lobsterman who fishes out of Friendship, had signed up for a program to help struggling fishermen during the downturn. “Part of the program was to try and look at different ways to use lobster and to do a business plan,” she said.

Havener took her lobster dog biscuits to the Rockland farmers market, where they were a big hit.

“People kept commenting, ‘Oh lucky dogs. Wish we could eat them,’ ” Havener said. “My husband the lobsterman kept saying, ‘You need to make something for people. This is the best seafood in the world, and you’re feeding it to dogs.’ ”

It was his idea to make a lobster cracker – the edible kind, not the kind that opens shells.

After a lot of trial and error, and trying them out on friends and family (her daughter in Atlanta took them to a fancy party), they came up with a cracker that won the Best New Product award at the New England Made Giftware and Specialty Food Show last spring.

Pat Havener quit her job as a nurse to develop the product.

One box of the crackers contains about one-sixth cup of lobster meat. If Havener adds too much, the crackers won’t puff up properly.

The crackers – they’re very crispy – taste mildly of lobster, but the scent of the shellfish when you open the box is actually stronger than the taste. Most people buy them as a novelty, anyway – an unusual way to bring lobster back home to family and friends. (These are probably the only crackers in existence that list their state Department of Marine Resources permits on the box.)

Havener picks the lobster meat from its shell, puts it into a food processor, then bakes it in the crackers with the other ingredients. Amazingly, the crackers have a shelf life of one year. Havener is able to make them at home, but orders are coming in so fast, she’s looking to upgrade and is having a commercial kitchen installed in her basement.

Havener recommends pairing the crackers with a mild goat cheese, a light cream cheese with chives or a lobster dip – nothing too strong.

Most retailers are charging, at most, $9.95 per 5-ounce box. (At Shipyard Brewing’s gift shop, however, they were a tourist-friendly $12.95.)

You can also find them at Lisa-Marie’s Made in Maine store in Portland; Oak Street Provisions in Boothbay Harbor; the Chocolate Moose in Bar Harbor; Five Islands Farm in Georgetown; and the Purple Baboon in Belfast.