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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. 

What lies ahead for the Maine lobster industry? Maine waters are warming due to climate change. The Lobster industry will be in trouble in years to come. Due to the inevitable future, Janet Mills has announced on Feb. 28th, that Maine will be joining the United States Climate Alliance. This is a coalition force made up of 21 states. The alliance was put together to stop greenhouse gas emissions throughout the states. To go along with the signing of the climate alliance bill, Mills signed a lot more. Those bills regarded the state to move into 80% more renewable energy that will hopefully benefit the state in the future.

With the effects of climate change, the Gulf Of Maine water will be increasing in temperature and definitely decreasing the population of lobster which will put a hard impact on the lobster industry. The Maine lobster thrive in water temperatures that vary from 61 to 64 degrees, so once the average water temperature rises above 70 degrees, the lobsters will be on their way to Canada where the waters are still cold. According to a study done in 2018, the Maine lobster population could drop by 40-60% by the year 2050. The state of Maine has been taking precautions to prevent overfishing and to preserve the species before it is out of Maine entirely. Maine has learned from the more southern states such as Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island where their waters are warmer and their lobster industry in the decline stage. These following states also didn’t have such strict regulations regarding their catch size and gender. In Maine, there is a minimum and maximum size limit with a regulated amount of traps per lobstermen.  Lobstermen must return the egg-filled female lobsters back to the ocean with a V-notch in their tail. When other lobstermen catch them they can return them to the ocean very easily without questioning if they are female or not. With this plan of attack, it will help the chances of Lobsters staying here in Maine while their habitat is rapidly changing. Keeping these big fertile females in the ocean it increases ecological evolutionary resilience which means that they will be able to give birth to lobster in the changing environment . Those newborn lobsters will be born into the changing environment and they will be able to do the same to their offspring. Throughout these forms of action, it is meant to keep lobster in the state of Maine and to keep the lobster businesses within the state up and running. They rely on lobster to give their customers the taste of Maine they came looking for. There is only a limit to how much we can prepare as a community and a state because it is inevitable that the Gulf of Maine will be high in Co2. This is just not the Gulf of Maine, this is worldwide and all the fishing communities and businesses are going to struggle.

Maine is trying to figure out as many ways to prevent that from happening. It is also very hard to find an alternative to lobster because all of the marine ecosystems and species will be affected by the inevitable climate change. With the lobster industry decreasing in the near years this will create a playing field where other industries are going to start to grow and shape the means of future restaurant menus. The question is how long will the lobster actually stay in Maine, will Maine’s tough regulations keep the population in Maine? These questions will be answered with time and the restaurants and lobstermen are going to have to adapt to the changing species that will soon become their lively hood.