The enigma behind America’s freak, 20-year lobster boom

October 7, 2015 Canada, Mid Atlantic, New England

Even as biologists puzzle over Maine’s strange serendipity, a more ominous mystery is emerging. A scientist who tracks baby lobsters reports that in the last few years their numbers have abruptly plummeted, up and down Maine’s coast. With the number of breeding lobsters at an all-time high, it’s unclear why the baby lobster population would be cratering—let alone what it portends. It could reflect a benign shift in baby lobster habitats. Or it could be that the two-decade boom is already on its way to a bust. To form a clearer picture why, we first need to unravel the possible causes of the current lobster glut. Read the rest here 09:23

20-year lobster boom, cod, ecological changes, Maine lobster industry, predation

Leave a ReplyCancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Ocean Resource Privatization

Articles Posted by Date
November 2024

M T W T F S S

1 2 3

4 5 6 7 8 9 10

11 12 13 14 15 16 17

18 19 20 21 22 23 24

25 26 27 28 29 30

« Oct

November 2024
M	T	W	T	F	S	S
	1	2	3
4	5	6	7	8	9	10
11	12	13	14	15	16	17
18	19	20	21	22	23	24
25	26	27	28	29	30

The New England groundfish debacle (Part III): who or what is at fault? Nils E. Stolpe/FishNet

It took me a while to decide how to most accurately describe the situation that has been visited upon the New England fishing communities that are and since colonial times have been dependent on the groundfish fisheries.

NILS STOLPE: The New England groundfish debacle (Part IV): Is cutting back harvest really the answer?

While it’s a fact that’s hardly ever acknowledged, the assumption in fisheries management is that if the population of a stock of fish isn’t at some arbitrary level, it’s because of too much fishing. Hence the term “overfished.” Hence the mandated knee jerk reaction of the fisheries managers to not enough fish; cut back on fishing. What of other factors? They don’t count. It’s all about fishing, because fishing is all that the managers can control; it’s their Maslow’s Hammer. When it comes to the oceans it seems as if it’s about all that the industry connected mega-foundations that support the anti-fishing ENGOs with hundreds of millions of dollars a year in “donations” are interested in controlling. Read the article here

Recent Posts
- New Bedford Port Authority to become fisheries rep to offshore wind
  
  The New Bedford Port Authority has reached an agreement with all offshore wind developers operating in the Massachusetts/Rhode Island market to serve as the designated Fisheries Read More »
- New York Commercial Fishermen blast new Department of Environmental Conservation report
  
  Commercial fishing advocates Thursday lambasted a new state report that criticizes New York’s top fisheries regulator. At a rally beside a commercial fishing trawler in Hampton Read More »
- Nova Scotia is launching its own seafood quality certification program
  
  Participating companies must meet a range of traceability, handling, processing and food safety standards including an annual product quality assessment prior to export. Keith Colwell, the Read More »
- Coast Guard rescues 3, continues search for 1 after boat capsizes off Bodega Bay
  
  The Coast Guard rescued three people Saturday evening after a commercial fishing boat capsized approximately 30 miles north of Bodega Bay, while a search continues for Read More »
- Shrimper Design Focuses on Low Fuel Consumption
  
  Designers at Damen Maaskant have done some serious homework and developed new design intended to support operators in tropical shrimp fisheries in staying profitable. The Damen Read More »
- Ratepayer Lawsuit! Review of South Fork Wind Farm project found power shortfalls during peak summer periods
  
  LIPA in 2017 decided to move ahead with the South Fork Wind Farm project despite internal findings that its ability to produce energy during critical summer-peak Read More »
- 4 rescued after boat runs ashore in the North Bay
  
  First responders rescued four crewmembers of a fishing boat that washed ashore near Bodega Bay Friday night. The boat ran around south of Salmon Creek Beach, according Read More »
- Author Alan Stein Says US Commerce FOIA Lawsuit Yielded Results
  
  A federal lawsuit moved the U.S. Department of Commerce to hand over thousands of pages of withheld documents needed to write a book, the lawyer of Read More »
- State Papers: Royal Navy submarine dragged Irish fishing trawler backwards for 1.6km before breaking free
  
  Britain attempted to claim State immunity in an attempt to recover a valuable towed sonar array from a Royal Navy attack submarine which detached after snagging Read More »
- Europe Runs Out of Fish
  
  July 9 is European Fish Dependence Day, the moment when the E.U. has used up all its own seafood resources and must rely entirely on imports Read More »
- Five fishermen rescued from grounded fishing vessel in St-Pierre
  
  The crew of a Newfoundland fishing boat was rescued early Monday after their vessel ran aground in St-Pierre-Miquelon. Five fishermen from the Arlene & Adonna were Read More »
- Probe in fatal boat fire still active
  
  City police and federal arson investigators continued to search for clues Monday into the death of man on a fishing boat at the Port Angeles Boat Read More »
- Non-profit helps scores of commercial fishermen with free fishing licenses
  
  It’s not uncommon for a delayed start to Dungeness crab season along Oregon, in fact, many fishermen try to plan ahead for it. This year is Read More »
- Fight for the Future! Harris skipper urges Isles MSP to take stronger stance on HPMAs
  
  Western Isles MSP Alasdair Allan MSP needs to stop “downplaying” the concerns voiced by fishermen over the threat to their livelihoods posed by a controversial new Read More »
- 110 ignorant elected “officials” back New Jersey offshore wind farm. Who says its clean?!!
  
  The New Jersey chapter of Elected Officials to Protect America, which announced 110 elected officials from across New Jersey have signed a letter of support for Read More »
- David Cameron vetoes Rockall fishing agreement between Scotland and Ireland
  
  Foreign Secretary David Cameron has vetoed an agreement between Scotland and Ireland to allow Irish fishermen access to the rich fishing grounds around Rockall. Ownership of Read More »
- Nova Scotia, P.E.I. lobster fisheries shut down – “We were blindsided. Never seen this coming at all,”
  
  The lobster fishery in Nova Scotia has come to a standstill, and some P.E.I. fishermen have been told to tie up their boats. In Nova Scotia, Read More »
- Regulators meet next week to consider actions to save right whales which could drastically change lobstering
  
  Proposals to close the fishery in the western Gulf of Maine south of Cape Elizabeth during April, cut the number of seabed-to-surface lines that can entangle Read More »
- Belfast’s lobster Passy Pete predicts early winter
  
  Residents of Belfast were on the waterfront this Labor Day to get a very important answer from a very special lobster. Passy Pete gave his predictions Read More »
- FFAW-Unifor bans thousands of members from running for executive positions in communist-like move: FISH-NL
  
  The Federation of Independent Sea Harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador (FISH-NL) accuses the FFAW-Unifor executive of manipulating the union Constitution to project their own jobs, and Read More »
- Biden Creates an Eco-Diplomat Position for His Chief of Staff’s Wife
  
  President Joe Biden has created a new “special diplomat” position to represent…plants and animals. “Monica Medina is taking on a new role as special envoy for Read More »
- Larger expected king run loosens restrictions on setnets, drifters
  
  Commercial fishermen in Upper Cook Inlet will be somewhat freer to fish at the outset of the 2016 season thanks to a larger projected king salmon Read More »
- Snow crab producers could limit production to help international market
  
  An excess of snow crab produced in Newfoundland and Labrador is leading to supply outpacing demand, leaving industry figures to question if it’s worth slowing production Read More »
- Northern Pulp: Next step in possible restart expected to come today
  
  On Thursday, Northern Pulp’s parent company, Paper Excellence, put out a news release stating that it intended to continue with the environmental assessment process with the Read More »
- For Spanish fishermen, sea’s bounty includes plastic
  
  At sunrise in the fishing port of Villajoyosa in eastern Spain, a fleet of traditional fishing boats sets out on the Mediterranean to hunt for cuttlefish, Read More »