Scientists say the Gulf of Maine is warming at a faster rate than any other ocean in the world and that if the trend continues it could have a major impact on the commercial fishing industry.
Scott Werner, 29, of Falmouth, Maine, is a third-generation lobsterman who has been hauling traps since he was a boy.
“We just grew up doing it. My old man did it. My grandfather did it,” Werner, on board the 42-foot Aldebaron, told NECN News.
“The year before last, they hit really early. This year, they came in late. I don’t know what they’re gonna do tomorrow,” he said.
Scientists can’t predict with much precision, either, but Andy Pershing, the chief scientific officer for the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, said temperature data between 2004 and 2013 show that the Gulf of Maine has warmed at a faster rate than 99 percent of the global ocean.
“This is a magnitude of change that our ecosystem probably hasn’t experienced, and I think very few other ecosystems have experienced this kind of rapid change in temperature,” Pershing said.
