Global Warming-Fueled Maine Lobster Boom: A BAD Thing?

I've covered how global warming will be bad for lobsters from Massachusetts to Virginia, stressing them out with higher temperatures. But further north, warmer water has been great news for Maine lobsters, who've been booming in population. You'd think that would be good news for lobstermen, but instead the global warming-fueled Maine lobster glut has sent prices tumbling:

Harbors up and down the coast of Maine are filled with idle fishing boats, as lobster haulers decide that pulling in their lobster pots has become a fruitless pursuit.

Prices at the dock have fallen to as low as $1.25 a pound in some areas—roughly 70% below normal and a nearly 30-year-low for this time of year, according to fishermen, researchers and officials. The reason: an unseasonably warm winter created a supply glut throughout the Atlantic lobster fishery.

What about consumers, aren't they enjoying lower prices? Not unless you live in Maine:

Retail lobster prices in Maine have started to fall along with the glut, and Mr. Bayer said that some fishermen have begun selling lobsters out of their trucks for as low as $4 a pound. But consumers elsewhere in the U.S. aren't likely to see bargains. The Maine lobsters that currently are in season can't be shipped long distances due to their soft shells, and retailers have other fixed costs that limit big price drops.

While warmer ocean temperatures are clearly tied to man-made global warming and June was the 4th-hottest on record globally, the article in the Wall Street Journal (motto: "Fox, Print Edition") doesn't even mention climate change.

Global Warming Killing Lobsters, Jobs From Massachusetts To Virginia

Global warming isn't just raising air temperatures; it's raising ocean temperatures as well. And if you're a lobster living in already-warm Gulf Stream waters, even a small increase in temperature can push you past a tipping point, make you more vulnerable to bacteria & disease.

Scientists say it looks like that's exactly what's happening right now, with lobsters populations declining by as much as 50% off southern Massachusetts. It's not just devastating for the crustaceans -- it's disastrous for the people whose jobs depend on lobsters:

Lobster populations in a large swath of the Atlantic Ocean have declined so much that biologists are recommending a five-year ban on catching lobsters south of Cape Cod down to Virginia to allow the stock to bounce back. [...]

Lobstermen, many who learned about the proposal in recent weeks, said they were being blamed for a problem that was not their doing. Bernie Feeney of the lobstermen’s association said regulators are suggesting the moratorium because, unlike warming sea waters, "it is the only variable they have control over. And fishermen take it on the chin every time."

It's not like lobsters are going extinct anytime soon. But to lobstermen, there may not be much practical difference between "extinct" and "not vibrant enough to support a lobstering industry."

But Bernie Feeney is right -- the people feeling the effects of global warming have been far too silent about its causes for far too long. Will more lobstermen now speak up about the need to end our addiction to polluting fuels & move to clean energy sources? We'll see.

Cross-posted from BlueVirginia.us