Doctoral Student’s Fishermen’s Forum Presentation Cited in Free Press Article
The Free Press reported Kisei Tanaka, a doctoral student at the University of Maine, was one of several presenters at the 40th annual Maine Fishermen’s Forum held in Rockport. Tanaka, who spoke during a session on climate change, explained a new computer model developed to show prime lobster habitat in the Gulf of Maine, according to the article. Tanaka used environmental data from 1978 to 2012 to illustrate the changes in ideal lobster habitat along the coast, the article states. He found that by the 2000s, nearly all of the eastern counties had an increase in good lobster habitat, particularly during the spring months. “Temperature and salinity have changed due to climate change; depth and bottom type haven’t,” Tanaka said, adding that juvenile lobsters pick a place to settle and grow based on water temperature, bottom type, salinity and depth.