Tag Archives: shell disease
Warmer Northumberland Strait not good news for lobster fishery
As climate change warms the waters around Prince Edward Island, it could bring a new threat of disease to lobsters. University of Maine researcher Richard Wahle said his surveys of the waters around P.E.I. contain both good and bad news for the lobster fishery. There was good news in recent counts of baby lobster.,,, Warming waters around Rhode Island have led to shell disease and a drop in the lobster population there, he said. >click to read< 12:05
Correction: Lobster Shellshock-Q&A story
In a story May 13 about lobster shell strength, The Associated Press reported erroneously that marine biogeochemist Justin Ries attributed the collapse of the southern New England lobster fishery to shell disease. He attributed it to overfishing and population shifts caused by warming waters. A corrected version of the story is below: Lobster industry fears weaker shells, but evidence is mixed. The globalization of the American lobster business has spurred fears within the industry that lobsters’ shells are getting weaker, but scientific evidence about the issue paints a complicated picture. >click to read<11:24
Lobsters here clear of claw disease – “You might see one or two, but there are no alarms going off up here,”
“Up around Gloucester, it’s much less, usually 1 percent or less of the lobsters landed,” Glenn said. “The highest we ever saw up there was 3.1 percent in 2003 and 2.2 percent in 2012.”That’s good news not only for Gloucester lobstermen, but for lobster lovers throughout the region.That’s because Gloucester, according to the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association, is home to more lobstermen (145) and more lobsters landed (2.27 million pounds in 2011) than any other of the Bay State’s 52 ports. more@GDT 03:50
