Changing Ocean Topic
Draws Record Crowd

by Mike Crowe

Linda Williams, Western Australia Rock Lobster Council. Since 1978, the fishery has seen good and bad times. Over the last 5 years, the number of boats in their fishery has gone from 600 to 250 and the average length from 30 to 80 feet. Fishermen’s Voice photo

ROCKPORT, ME—More than 350 fishermen and others attended a Maine Fishermen’s Forum session, March 3, that focused on the changes fishermen are seeing in the water.

The three-hour event featured a panel of nine speakers and a standing-room-only audience, one of the largest in the 41-year history of the forum. Topics ranged from water temperatures to migrating species. Participants ranged from fishermen with 50 years on the water to marine scientists with the latest data on a changed ocean in the Gulf of Maine. Organizers titled the event “Changing Oceans” and encouraged discussion to revolve around how fishermen might deal with a changing reality.

Cutler lobsterman, and one of the organizers of the program, Kristen Porter said, “We wanted to focus attention on what we can do about working in a changed ocean, rather than debate the causes and who is at fault.” Scientists presented data to verify what fishermen have reported seeing.

Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI) scientist Andy Pershing said, “Climate is what you expect. Weather is what you get.”

Pershing said there has been a lot of variability in the weather since 1980 and the Gulf of Maine has been the most variable water body on the planet. Water temperatures warmed in 2012 and took off. And the Gulf of Maine is experiencing changes in air, salinity, and Gulf Stream currents as well, according to NOAA ecosystem data.

Species shift is also seen. Drawing on data collected from 1880 to 2016, these changes are multi-decadal. Of the commercially important species, 42 percent are highly vulnerable to temperature and other changes in the ocean that result from global warming.

Rising water temperatures are amplifying the effects in the United States of El Nino and La Nina in the Pacific Ocean. There is strong evidence, according to Canadian stock assessment biologist Bob O’Boyle, that a 15 percent temperature increase will send lobster offshore.

A number of fishermen spoke of the impacts of global warming on their fisheries. For example, Oregon fisherman John Mellor told of earning 2/3 of his income fishing Dungeness crab. Two weeks before the season started, acidity levels soared and the fishery closed. The source was warmer waters, which helped set off an algae bloom. When the algae dies, it sinks to the bottom, decomposes, and produces demoic acid. Shellfish can consume it, and the shellfish flesh is then toxic for humans. Diversifying what he fishes for has been Mellor’s strategy for surviving global warming impacts on crab, he said.

Linda Williams is on the Western Australia Rock Lobster Council. Her husband is a rock lobster fisherman. Since 1978, the fishery has seen good and bad times. It was the first to be certified by the Marine Stewardship Council. However, over the last 5 years, the number of boats in their fishery has gone from 600 to 250 and the average length from 30 to 80 feet, she said.

“So many don’t want to accept that there has been climate change,” said Alaskan crab fisherman Keith Colburn. “I’ve been successful because I listen to what the scientists say regarding water temperature change trends. There are huge, rapid swings in the weather with larger and more frequent storms. In the last 15 years, I’ve seen the greatest changes in 30 years of fishing.” Colburn said, “Fishing is America’s oldest occupation on both coasts. We may be able to step forward and change our patterns. How do we do it and band together? TV has made our business known and I think we are the people to get behind climate change, to push forward and put a face on the problem.”

Colburn urged fishermen to diversify and look ahead, remain in communication, and to have the courage to discuss this difficult topic. “Is it scary? You bet your ass it is,” he said.

“We know more about water temperatures than ocean acidity,” said Jon Hare from NOAA. “Mollusks are affected by acidity and lobster may be, but there is uncertainty about that.” Maine DMR scientist Carl Wilson said Maine lobster had a record season in 2016 for weight and dollar value. Yet over the last 4 to 5 years, there has been poor settlement rates and early shedding, he said.

NOAA Regional Administrator John Bullard said his agency has spent a lot of time, over the last 15 years, trying to sound the alarm on climate change. “It’s scary,” Bullard said. “Scientists have not been able to get this through to the general public.” Bullard spoke to the importance of fishermen sharing their observations on the topic. “People believe them,” he said.

“Global warming is definitely here. Species movement is on a rapidly increasing scale. We represent food security,” said fisherman John Mellor.

During a question and answer session, members of the audience addressed water quality decline, the hazards of removing millions of tons of rockweed from the Maine coast at a time when marine habitat is under extreme stress, carbon capture efforts, skyrocketing sea bass and dogfish predation on groundfish, and quota changes with a changing fisheries reality.

Colburn closed by asking people to act, rather than react. “Do what we need to do to keep our fisheries intact,” he said.