Incorporating Environmental Variability Into Assessment and Management of American Lobster (Homarus americanus
Principal Investigator: Yong Chen (Zoology & Marine Science, UMaine)
Partners: Northeast Fisheries Science Center, NOAA, Gulf of Maine Research Institute
Abstract: The American lobster is an icon of the Maine state. It is one of the most important commercial fisheries in Maine with landings valued over $464 million in 2014. It is critical to examine the distribution of American lobster under a changing climate to achieve a better understanding and management of the lobster fishery. This proposal seeks GA support with the goal of developing season-, size-, and sex-specific models that predict the non-stationary spatial distribution of American lobster. The results derived from this study can reveal the relationships between American lobster and environmental variables locally, enhance the management of lobsters in Maine, and inform a proposal for developing our predicative capacity for the lobster population dynamics in a changing Gulf of Maine.