Maine's Lobster Catch Could Peak Early Due To Warmer Ocean
March 11, 2016 | 1 min to read
ROCKPORT, Maine — Maine's lobster catches will likely peak early this year, which could mean an abundance of cheap lobster for consumers and bad news for the state's signature industry, a group of scientists reported Thursday.
Maine's busy summer lobster fishing season typically picks up around early July, the same time the state's tourism industry gets in gear. Scientists with the Portland-based Gulf of Maine Research Institute predict this year's lobster season will get rolling two or three weeks early.
The scientists, who unveiled their findings during the Maine Fishermen's Forum in Rockport, pinned the early lobster season on warming ocean temperatures. Along Maine's coast, temperatures are 2 to 3 degrees Fahrenheit higher than normal. That means lobsters are likely to move inshore, shed their shells and become more easily trapped earlier this summer, they said.
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