AP shares Wahle’s data indicating fewer baby lobsters in Gulf of Maine
The Associated Press reported that Rick Wahle’s lobster settlement index shows that baby lobsters are still appearing in high numbers off some parts of Canada but are tailing off in New England. The University of Maine scientist’s just released 2018 data from 23 areas from Rhode Island to Prince Edward Island, Canada indicate high totals in St. Mary’s Bay, Nova Scotia, and the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence, but low numbers in Maine’s Midcoast region and Casco Bay, according to the article. “It’s as if this wave that has crested in Maine is now increasing in Atlantic Canada,” says Wahle, who adds the decline in settlement in the Gulf of Maine has “raised concerns over the future of this region’s fishery.” Maine’s haul of lobsters peaked at 132.6 million in 2016 and fell to 111.9 million in 2017, according to the article. Maine Public, WABI (channel 5), News Center Maine and the Bangor Daily News carried the AP story. The Ellsworth American also published an article on the topic and the BDN cited the information in another report on climate change causing a significant shift in coral reef populations. Pattaya Mail carried the AP story.