Tag Archives: lobster population

Maine’s lobster population will drop but fishery ‘not doomed’

The lobster population in the Gulf of Maine could decline by nearly two-thirds by 2050, according to a scientific study released this week. As bad as that sounds, scientists and industry representatives say the demise of the most valuable single-species fishery in the country is unlikely. “It doesn’t mean Maine’s lobster fishery is doomed,” said Andrew Pershing, chief scientific officer at Gulf of Maine Research Institute and a co-author of the study. >click here to read< 10:17

Nova Scotia young lobster population shows no sign of decline

Federal fisheries scientists say their most recent sampling of juvenile lobster in southwest Nova Scotia indicate a decade-long trend of abundant populations is holding steady. “It’s closer to the long-term average. Not the extreme high or low. Somewhere along the middle of what we’ve seen,” said Adam Cook, a federal research scientist. Canada’s Fisheries and Oceans department has three sites in southwest Nova Scotia where it captures juvenile lobsters after they settle to the ocean floor. Read the article here 10:54

Symposium offers clues to how lobsters adapt to climate change

lobsterDM0811_468x521While he’s the first to admit predicting the impact of climate change on the lobster population is far from an exact science, Dr. Remy Rochette says some models he works with in a joint project between the University of New Brunswick and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans do offer clues. Rochette was one of the keynote speakers at a Canada-U.S. lobster symposium held recently in Charlottetown focusing on the American lobster in a changing ecosystem. Read the rest here 12:01

Ocean Warming Blamed For Northward Shift In Lobster Population

The lobster population has crashed to the lowest levels on record in southern New England while climbing to heights never before seen in the cold waters off Maine and other northern reaches — a geographic shift that scientists attribute in large part to the warming of the ocean. The trend is driving lobstermen in Connecticut and Rhode Island out of business, ending a centuries-old way of life. In northern New England, meanwhile, lobsters are booming. The population in the Gulf of Maine — a body of water,,, Read the rest here

A big shift is coming to the Maine lobster population — and it could devastate the local economy

While we can’t know for sure what the future holds, it seems that as ocean temperatures continue to increase, lobsters will likely keep moving north, study researcher Malin Pinsky, of Rutgers University, told Business Insider. At a rate of 43 miles per decade, it could only be 30 years or so until Maine lobsters are mostly in Canadian waters. Two factors will impact how quickly this happens, Pinsky told Business Insider: Greenhouse gas production and the rate of ocean temperature increase. If temperatures and gasses continue to rise, Pinsky says lobsters moving to Canada is, “not out of the question.” Read the rest here 13:42