Maine has been experiencing a lobster boom. After catching an average of 20 million pounds of lobster per year for decades, Maine’s 5,500 lobster-men landed a record 125 million pounds of lobsters last year. Will this boom, however, end in a bust? Some experts think so. The question is important because the other ground fisheries in the Gulf of Maine; cod, haddock, pollock and hake; have been effectively fished out. Lobster accounts for 80% of the total value of the Maine fisheries. If lobster yields drop dramatically, the economic impact on the coast could be dire.
Why could the boom end in a bust? Climate change – specifically warmer waters. The lobster fishery in Long Island Sound collapsed in 1999 after a shell disease wiped out lobster stocks in Connecticut and Rhode Island. The disease coincided with a rise in water temperature. The region’s lobster fisheries have never recovered.
Water temperatures in Maine are rising as well. The peak lobster catches in Maine have been shifting north and east as temperatures rise. Ironically, warmer waters may have contributed to the record lobster yields. The problem comes when the temperature keeps rising. “Anything above 20º C is extremely stressful for lobsters,” explained Bob Steneck, Professor of Marine Sciences at the University of Maine. “While warmer waters off the coast of Maine in recent years have probably aided the boom in lobster numbers, putting us right in the temperature sweet spot for this species, we’re getting closer and closer to that point where the temperature is just too stressful for them, their immune system is compromised and it’s all over.”
The Lobster Bubble: Maine’s Lobster Boom, And Why Experts Predict A Dramatic Bust
The boom has not been universally a good thing, particularly for lobster fishermen. In 2005, lobster was selling on the dock for $6 a pound. By 2009 it was around $3 and now sells for as low as $2.20. This has been a boon for the restaurant owners where the price of lobster on the menu has not dropped.
Lobster has not always been a high priced item. Native Americans sued lobster as fertilizer and in Colonial America indentured servants demanded that they be fed lobster no more than three times a week.