November 13, 2014 — Spring is arriving earlier than it used to in the Gulf of Maine, increasing average water temperatures and affecting the migratory patterns of fish species that are key to Maine’s marine ecosystem and coastal economy, according to a new federal report.
Over the past eight years, the date that scientists use to mark the transition to spring based on water temperature has gotten earlier by roughly two weeks for oceans off the northeastern and mid-Atlantic states. Likewise, the date for the transition to fall is falling later in the year, according to the report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center.
A similar trend is playing out in the Gulf of Maine.
“The spring transition date, currently identified as mid-May, is likely to shift to early April, and the fall transition, currently identified as mid-November, will likely shift well into December,” NOAA oceanographer Kevin Friedland said in a statement about the “Ecosystem Advisory” report. “This implies that the summer portion of the year, based on the transition temperatures, will increase by nearly two months to about 240 days. The extended summer period will have a significant impact on the living marine resources on the shelf. Organisms living in the Northeast Shelf ecosystem will have to deal with the challenges of a longer summer and competition from warm tolerant species entering their habitats.”
Released every six months, the NOAA report attempts to show how changes in water temperatures are affecting fisheries from North Carolina to Maine.
Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald