The preparation for the rise in sea temperatures has a lot of Maine fishermen and restaurants thinking of alternatives for what to sell and what to fish for. If the predictions are correct then the present species of lobster and other Gulf of Maine fish will be flushed out of the gulf and a new group will come to replace. According to wbur.org, there was an article that talked about other species that have been on the rise since the ocean temperature increased. These new species are going to provide new opportunities for the lobster industry. Since the increase in water temperature, 2 new species have been consistently increasing ever since the Gulf of Maine hit new records for the water temperature in 2012. The squid population has been in abundance, so how will Maine take advantage of that?
I personally can connect to the rise in population of squid over the years. I live in Kittery which is in the Gulf of Maine. My friends and I have had the opportunity to make friendships with lobstermen and fishermen. My best friend Connor started Lobstering out of Pepperell Cove, ME when he was just 13 years old. I have had connections to the fishing world for a long time and am grateful to have it. We are on the water all summer long and we able to see when the lobster industry was in a boom and when it has started its decrease. We were also able to see the squid population increase over the years. I remember being able to go out on our skiff and drop a squid jig down to the bottom and real up these massive squids. Once the word got around that squid were in Maine, the docks started to fill with people. Through my observations, I observed that there was a high amount of Asian people fishing off of bridges and docks. And also talking to fishermen, they say a lot of the Asian population are fishing for squid here in Kittery and surrounding towns. The squid fishing in Kittery was so population it brought the police into it. People were letting the squid ink all over the docks and staining them. People were also fishing out of other people boats which was very illegal and also filling them with ink. I was able to see this happening in person. So through my observations, there is already a market for squid here in Kittery and if commercial fishing starts for squid I see it being successful instantly.
Gene Mcdonald is a lobsterman for Stonington lobster and she is the one who is talked about in the article above. She is trying to find what type of gear and infrastructure that will be needed. That gear will allow Mcdonald to be successful with catching and getting the squid to the market. This is the same for Black sea bass, they have been on the rise ever since 2012. If these two species become the new lobster, it will be a little bit different because they will have to be frozen to be kept fresh. Lobsters are caught and kept alive then cooked alive. There will be a change in restaurants because they won’t have to keep them alive. They will just be shipped to the frozen and kept in restaurants frozen until sold. This will be a new reality if the regulations and precautions don’t work that Maine has put into place. This is a hard predicament to be in, some lobstermen are thinking ahead just like Mcdonald and some are sticking to what they know best and that is lobstering. This adaptation to new species can be done by the present lobstermen. Mcdonald said that she sees lobstermen out her window changing their boats to be rigged to fish for the growing scallop industry. These lobstermen are entrepreneurs and adapt to different species. This big change is likely to happen and the present lobsterman can still be successful in the future if they take the right steps to looking ahead. Since the lobstermen will be fishing theu will affect the restaurant businesses because the restaurants can not survive without the lobstermen. There will be a whole new menu in the future for the tourist that travel to Maine to get a taste of our seafood. Through the research that was done, I see Squid and Black sea bass becoming the new most popular Maine fishing industry.
Maine Lobster And Climate Change 