Posted on 06/15/2021 1:20:38 PM PDT by where's_the_Outrage?
Ask any outsider what Maine brings to mind, and the response might well be: Bone-chilling winters. Forests. Moose. Quaint fishing villages along a rocky coast. Flannel shirts and Bean boots. And lobsters—lots of lobsters.
These cold-water-loving, bottom-feeding crustaceans are top of mind for many Mainers too, including Monique Coombs. She’s the director of community programs for the Maine Coast Fisherman’s Association, in Brunswick. She’s also the wife of Maine lobsterman, Herman Coombs, and the mother of 16-year-old Joceylne, who’s going into the family trade. Homarus americanus—the American lobster—is what keeps bread on the Coombs’ table.
Last year during the pandemic shutdown, Maine didn’t get its usual blast of summer visitors, but there were plenty of lobsters. Signs are promising for a revived tourism season in 2021, and Monique expects it to be another good year for lobsters.
But that doesn’t stop her from worrying. The waters off Maine’s coast are warming, and no one knows what that’s going to mean for the state’s half-billion-dollar-a-year lobster industry—the largest single-species fishery in North America. Some fear that continued warming could cause the lobster population to collapse.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
The governor of Maine and other tree huggers never mention that in the 1950’s and 1960’s, the waters off the coast of Maine were warmer.
Both times, the waters became colder without the intervention of mankind.
Rhode Islanders used to gleefully point out that a lot of the lobster sold in Maine was caught in Narragansett Bay. (My long-ago brother-in-law was one of those Narragansett lobstermen.)
Funny thing about lobsters, no matter how plentiful they are the price stays high. Kinda weird that the lobster trade defies supply and demand economics.
There could be an explosion in availability and there has been, of lobster populations yet the prices remain high.
They’re just tasty crustaceans and prices are kept artificially high. The fisheries have done a great job of reviving and maintaining the resource but the prices remain the same.
Lobster is a con.
And there is not a thing you can do to prevent it, or to speed it up so the warmer water species supplant the cold water lovers. Earth's natural cycles will prevail.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.