Lobster Supply Will Decrease As The Temperature Increase

Climate change has been vastly happening here on Earth, a bad news even for the lobster lovers and fishermen out there.  A new study shows that in Maine, Portland, if the oceans will continue to warm, baby lobsters won't be able to survive anymore. 

Portland, Maine is the key location because it is known for lobster production. Scientists from the University of Maine Darling Marine Center and Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences discovered this climate change effect in the lobsters.

The team of scientist discovered that the larvae of the lobster struggled for survival when they were reared in water warmer, by five degrees Fahrenheit. The warmer temperature is typical in the western Gulf of Maine, a lobster fishing area off England.

Though for now, the lobsters catch is still strong and so is the market sales. US fisherman topped the 100 million pounds of lobster for seven years in a row with a half billion of value. It shows that the lobster industry is not yet at its crucial point.

However, experts warned that the continuing rise of warm temperature already showed signs of the decrease in lobster production on southern reaches. As the survey shows that the lobster catches in the south if Cape Cod drop to about 3.3 million pounds.

The researchers also studied 3,000 lobsters from the moment they are hatched. Results show that baby lobsters develop faster in high temperature, by which it is beneficiary for them in surviving predators but, only a few survived, as reported by Greenwich Time.

Jessica Waller, co-author of the study shared that, "There has been a near total collapse in Rhode Island, the southern end of the fishery, and we know our waters are getting warmer. We are hoping this research can be a jumping off point for more research into how lobsters might do over the next century."

Meanwhile, an ocean scientist with the Anderson Cabot Center at the New England Aquarium, Michael Tlusty said that the research is important considering the effects of both warming and the change of the ocean chemistry. He added "This is the type of work that really needs to be done, the oceans are not changing one parameter at a time," according to Christian Science Monitor.