Tag Archives: lobsterman David Stamatis
Lobstermen and Scientists See a Fishery in Flux
While overall the fishery seems stable, some lobstermen are seeing changes that have them worried about its future. Scientists are looking into what role the changing climate may be playing in those changes, but they don’t have definitive answers. “It’s horrible,” said Mike Rego, a lobsterman and owner of the F/V Miss Lilly who operates out of Provincetown. “Last year was the worst year I ever had.” Dana Pazolt, another Provincetown lobsterman who owns the F/V Black Sheep, said that the last four years have been slim for lobsters around the Outer Cape. “You’ve got to hunt for them,” he said. “I can’t tell you why that is.” The surface waters of the Gulf of Maine are warming at a rate of about one degree per decade, faster than 99 percent of the world’s oceans, according to the Gulf of Maine Research Institute. Meanwhile, in other areas, warming has already had an effect — it played a major role in causing the collapse of the lobster fishery in Long Island Sound in 1999. more, >>CICK TO READ<< 21:20
Clarice, the Calico Lobster
In his 15 years of commercial lobster fishing, David Stamatis says he’s never seen a lobster like the one he pulled out of his trap in Cape Cod Bay on July 18. From among the typical brick-red and brown crustaceans crawled a black lobster mottled with bright yellow and orange spots. A calico lobster is a one-in-30-million mutant. It is the third-rarest lobster variant in the world, behind only the split-colored and the albino lobsters. But now he has to figure out what to do with it. He has tried, unsuccessfully so far, to give it away. “I want to donate it so that others can enjoy it and maybe it can be studied,” he said. There’s one particular fate Stamatis hopes doesn’t befall the lobster: “I don’t want anyone to eat it.” >click to read< 11:37
