Fish depletion threatens Gulf of Maine lobster

Low prices and a market glut may be the biggest problems many Maine lobstermen had to deal with this year, but there are other looming challenges facing the industry, and they have more to do with the marine environment than money.

According to University of Maine marine biologist, Robert Steneck, the depletion of cod and the effects of global warming — along with existing economic challenges — are combining to test the ingenuity of lobstermen, even as the Gulf of Maine undergoes dramatic changes.

But the problem isn't too few lobsters; there are more than enough.

That abundance is a relatively new development, said Steneck, a professor in the School of Marine Sciences at the University of Maine's Darling Marine Center in Walpole, during a presentation to academics, fisheries representatives and governmental officials at a lobster symposium in Portland Wednesday. The event, “The American Lobster in a Changing Ecosystem,” runs through Friday.

The surge in the Gulf of Maine lobster population has been a boon to Maine, which now enjoys a “lucrative monoculture” in fisheries, with lobsters accounting for 85 percent of the value of harvested marine resources, Steneck said. The fishery, he said, “is better today than ever before.”

Click here to read the full story from Portland Press Herald > 

Subscribe

Want seafood news sent to your inbox?

You may unsubscribe from our mailing list at any time. Diversified Communications | 121 Free Street, Portland, ME 04101 | +1 207-842-5500
None