Lobster forecast: shrinking harvests in the future
The decline of baby lobsters off Maine’s coasts could mean shrinking harvests in the future, which might create ripple effects throughout the country.
The Associated Press reported that a recent University of Maine survey of 11 Gulf of Maine locations shows that young lobster populations have fallen by half since 2007, meaning there could be less catch in the future when they reach legal harvesting size.
Given that Maine lobsters comprised 85% of the country’s total catch in 2012, the new survey could foreshadow a troubling future for the fishing and restaurant industries.
Maine Department of Marine Resources officials said overfishing does not appear to be the culprit for the population decline. A University of Maine marine ecologist who worked on the survey said the decline could be a result of the ocean’s rising temperatures, which could cause lobsters to migrate north into the Gulf of St. Lawrence in Canada. It could also make them more susceptible for predatory fish seeking warmer waters from the north, he added.
The Maine lobster industry hauled over 350 million pounds of lobsters in the last three years, a record high for three-year periods since 1980, according to state data.
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