PORTLAND, Maine—A pair of studies by Maine-based scientists suggest the U.S. lobster industry is headed for a period of decline, but likely not a crash.
Lobster fishermen have brought in record hauls this decade, a period in which Maine catches that previously rarely topped 70 million pounds (32 million kilograms) have routinely soared above 120 million pounds (54 million kilograms). The new studies, both published with the University of Maine scientists as lead authors, show a fishery in which warming waters off Maine have changed the dynamics of the lobster population.
