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cepheus42 t1_it04hq7 wrote

No, Alaska's season is entirely separate from Maine, they're not related. But it IS a warning sign of what might happen to the lobster industry if the Gulf of Maine continues to warm.

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MaineJackalope t1_it1ruqt wrote

Kinda, lobsters are fine with warmer waters while snow crabs are not, so Alaska might have just had it's fishing population up and migrate north for colder water. Warm waters are still bad for lobster cause parasites plus we still got that fucking right whale thing going on.

I'm willing to bet a lack of Alaskan crab is gonna drive up demand for Maine Lobster in some cases

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Bywater t1_it0ynur wrote

I mean in sales maybe people will buy lobsters instead of snow crab. Environmentally not directly, but it is for sure a warning of what could happen. It's a pretty delicate balance for the sea insects. In theory it should stay cold enough down there due to the gulf currents and the bay of fundi ones that we have quite awhile before it goes tits up. The problem is we have the gulf slowing (its at its lowest rate on record) so it is going to stall and crawl over our gulf and its mostly shit warm water. The water coming out of the bay being more freshwater (which adds to warmth) and destabilizes the saline content, which makes it warmer along with a global "death" of micro organisms that act as food and change the density of the sea itself, again making it warmer. All these things combine to be the reason our gulf is warming faster than any other ocean bodies right now. Right before Connecticut's lobstering crashed they had record hauls, then boom, shit is done, whatever you manage to catch comes up dead in the trap.

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waterson2022 t1_it0lfdi wrote

Yes, prices will go up for Lobster since crab is not available. Higher prices for lobster may cause more harvesting which could weaken the lobster population.

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King_O_Walpole t1_it1vlv7 wrote

Not a concern of over harvesting in Maine. Our lobster fishing regulations are the best, it’s the NH and MA fisherman who are allowed to land oversized lobsters, lobsters caught as by catch, and do not honor the v-notch/egg filled lobsters the same way we do.

Maine does it right, the other states give a huge middle finger to Maine with their regulations

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lafnmatt t1_it2740t wrote

That must be why they dropped the price 50 cents on Sunday. Doesn’t jive with your crab not available argument. What is it you do for a living? Obviously you don’t fish.

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TarantinoFan23 t1_it00r60 wrote

The lobsters are going extinct too. Maine government is using the myth of the right whale to ease the lobsterpeople out instead of just springing on them fishermen like in they just did in Alaska.

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MaineJackalope t1_it1snev wrote

Maine's government does not believe right whales are at risk, the Federal government does; specifically the National Marine Fisheries Service, which the State of Maine is suing to try and get the decision reversed. Iirc the Governor and all our representatives in Congress have been vocally outspoken in this for years as NOAA was looking into restrictions on lobster fishing back in 2020 but had no meaningful plan to protect right whales from the thing actually killing them, cruise and cargo liners, proving the environment only matters if it's not in the way of major industry

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hike_me t1_it8c0uk wrote

It’s not that the Maine government doesn’t “believe” the science from the federal government — it’s that they don’t care either way because of money

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the_wookie_of_maine t1_it05yat wrote

I think you are giving people in government too much credit.

Is climate change real, Yes

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BraskysAnSOB t1_it0a8e2 wrote

Don’t you think the “lobster people” would be the first to know if the the thing they spent their lives catching was going extinct?

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ZealousidealTreat139 t1_it0evf0 wrote

It's the "frog in a pot" complex. Ask any lobsterman how their haul has been throughout their career and you'll find a substantial number of cases where reports come back of a gradual decline over the years. Be this from overfishing, climate change, or a combination of those combined with other outside factors it all points in the same direction.

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lafnmatt t1_it260h4 wrote

My thoughts exactly. I fish for them everyday we can get out and we catch em like no one’s business. More than 60% go back overboard cuz they’re too small and/or punch tails but we always do well.

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TarantinoFan23 t1_it0ibj3 wrote

How would they know?

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BraskysAnSOB t1_it0k79x wrote

Their catch would be decreasing. Instead It’s gone up since the 90s.

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KYazut t1_it0p8ux wrote

By what metric? Like, if everyone else goes out of business, I’m probably catching more fish than I used to.

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lafnmatt t1_it26l91 wrote

There are noteworthy devices called scales that weigh the catch which is then portrayed on the receipt “slip” that the co-op gives you to keep track of what you’re selling. It’s a pen and paper thing which then goes into each’s records. Crazy right?

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TarantinoFan23 t1_it2q38w wrote

The scales tell you how many lobsters are in the ocean? What did it say this year?

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lafnmatt t1_it2x2n4 wrote

No, they weigh our catch. The lobsters in the traps I haul tell me what’s in the ocean. The majority of them are undersized and therefore go back over the rail along with the eggers. There’s no lack of lobster in the 200ish square miles we are allowed to fish (which isn’t even a thousandth of percent of the Gulf of Maine) let alone the rest of the ocean which covers 70% of the globe. You can’t imagine the vastness of the ocean. So I answered your question. My question to you is do you fish? If not then what makes you think you’ve got a clue what is going on in the northern Atlantic Ocean?

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TarantinoFan23 t1_it2xqtt wrote

If I fished everyday in the same 2x2 spot in a lake, I wouldn't assume I knew the ecology of the lake just from fishing that tiny fraction of the lake.

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lafnmatt t1_it2y0it wrote

Right. But you’re assuming lobsters are going extinct and have broken how many traps over the rail of a fishing vessel?

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lafnmatt t1_it25qwu wrote

Going extinct huh? What’re you basing that on? Most likely you’re just basing. Drugs are bad.

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TarantinoFan23 t1_it2tnnu wrote

Oh man, l want to be wrong so bad. Lobster is my favorite food.

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lafnmatt t1_it2xfui wrote

Buy some then. I’d tell ya what the boat price is, i.e. what we’re getting paid for catching them, but I don’t think you’d believe it. I sell them and I don’t even believe it but most definitely buy some lobster and support Maine lobstering. We’re a dying breed.

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SnooCats7847 t1_it37yer wrote

4.10/5.10 in Portland

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lafnmatt t1_it3bev4 wrote

I fish out of Prospect Harbor

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SnooCats7847 t1_it3ef0h wrote

Thought it might go down a little for the fall. Pretty soon there won’t be a split price so that’ll be nice!

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lafnmatt t1_it3ev64 wrote

Amen to that. The alewives started about a month later so I’m hoping it’s just a late year. Good luck to ya. 👍🏼

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lafnmatt t1_it3bd1s wrote

We were @ $4.25/run 5.25/select up til Sunday when they dropped it 50 cents on us after that 3 day blow. Now we’re sittin at 3.75/4.75 respectively. Price is supposed to go the other way this time of year. Scary time for the lobster industry for sure.

1