July 17, 2020 — After years of growth, lobster populations in the Gulf of Maine are declining due to warming waters, according to a study by the Gulf of Maine Research Institute. Fishers are looking to kelp farming to support their livelihoods and the environment.
“We have seen the lobster population just grow and grow [in past years],” Chris Townsend, a commercial fisher on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, tells Food Tank. But, he continues, “A lobster is very sensitive to temperature. As the water warms, they cannot come back to their traditional grounds where they drop their eggs off.”
The Gulf of Maine is the fastest warming body of water, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, gradual warming initially contributed to a boom in lobster populations, but warming waters, coupled with shell disease – a condition that makes lobsters susceptible to mineral loss – is already resulting in a decrease in lobster stocks.
Townsend has been working along the New England coast for 37 years. He now sells his catch to local fish markets, runs eco-tours, and continues to fish commercially. “You used to be able to go lobstering all the way down to South Jersey. Now the southern limit of lobsters is basically Rhode Island,” Townsend tells Food Tank.