Andrew Goode grew up lobstering with his father in Boothbay, Maine, a coastal town whose economy and culture have long been defined by the fishing industry.
Goode: “It’s essentially what built the town.”
Today, as a researcher at the University of Maine Darling Marine Center, Goode studies how the warming climate is affecting lobster in his region.
He says lobster prefer water temperatures between around 54 and 68 degrees Fahrenheit. Water warmer than that makes it harder for them to reproduce, stresses young lobster, and contributes to the spread of disease.
In southern New England, warming water has contributed to a collapse in the lobster fishery.
In the cooler Gulf of Maine, rising temperatures have mostly benefited lobsters, and populations are thriving.
Goode: “But similar continued changes may cause us to go past that peak.”
With more warming, populations may decline, and lobsters may shift farther north and east to colder, deeper waters.
So while the Gulf of Maine is not yet feeling the dramatic impacts seen farther south, Goode says it’s critical to monitor populations and prepare.
Goode: “I am absolutely concerned with the future of the fishery in the face of a changing climate.”
Reporting credit: Sarah Kennedy / ChavoBart Digital Media
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