Meet the Scientists: Lobsters and Climate Change in the Gulf of Maine

Abundance estimates of American lobster are currently at an all-time high in the Gulf of Maine (GoM), but at all-time lows in Southern New England (SNE). As SNE water temperatures have warmed over the past 15 years, lobsters have moved offshore to deeper, cooler offshore waters. These thermal shifts, along with associated problems such as shell disease, are correlated with low levels of larval settlement and recruitment to inshore nursery grounds. This same trend now appears to be underway in the GoM. The overall goal of Research Director Jason Goldstein's and Post-doctoral Research Fellow Ben Gutzler's current research is to better understand the impacts that warming GoM waters will have on the movements of female lobsters and the fate of their larvae, with an eye to how this will be felt in the fishery. This information will help predict the impacts of a changing climate on the future of this critically valuable marine resource. We will discuss these project goals, share some data, and explain some of our next objectives. We will also share some of the novel technological approaches we are using in our research, including datalogger “backpacks” that measure lobster movements, heart rate, and feeding activity in the field. These devices can help us better understand lobster behavior and responses to short-term changes in the wild.