The planktonic copepod, Calanus finmarchicus, typically dominates the zooplankton biomass in deep waters of the Gulf of Maine. The sources and processes controlling the population dynamics of C. finmarchicus in the Gulf of Maine, particularly on the coastal shelves and ledges along the Maine coast, where lipid-rich copepodid stages of C. finmarchicus serve as a primary source of nutrition for planktivorous fish such as herring and mackerel, are not well understood. Knowledge of coastal C. finmarchicus abundance and distribution patterns is particularly important for evaluation of risks associated with right whale foraging in the vicinity of high nearshore densities of fixed fishing gear. Here we document the seasonal patterns and summer distribution of C. finmarchicus copepodid stage abundance in Maine coastal waters of the Gulf of Maine, based on three plankton surveys conducted in July or August in three successive years and concomitant time series of plankton collections at two mid-coast stations. C. finmarchicus copepodid stages CV-CVI, the most energy-rich prey for planktivores, were most abundant in spring (April-May), and again from mid-July through September at the coastal time series station. Abundances of these stages in mid summer (Jul-Aug) were significantly higher, by a factor of 2-47 for stage CV-CVI at offshore coastal stations > 100m depth than shallower nearshore coastal stages. Very few older stage C. finmarchicus were observed in the Damariscotta Estuary at any time of year. Our observations are most consistent with the hypothesis that local coastal production originating upstream from Jordan Basin or the Eastern Maine Coastal Current is the first-order source of C. finmarchicus in the coastal ocean. Abundance of later copepodid stages that develop from this coastal production is diminished in summer by planktivorous predation and possibly by offshore, cross-shelf drift of stage CV entering dormancy. Estimated concentrations of late, lipid-rich copepodid stages based on profiles with a Laser Optical Plankton counter were not sufficiently high to attract right whale foraging behavior inshore of the 100 m isobath; dense layers generally occurred at stations deeper than 150 m.