December 19, 2014 — Knowing when the migration toward shore is likely to begin will help fishermen and processors prepare for the unexpected.
So what’s the lobster forecast look like for the weekend?
Mainers will soon have an answer.
Scientists this spring will begin issuing weekly forecasts indicating when lobsters start to migrate from deep waters off the coast to state waters nearer shore where they are easier to catch. The forecasts, based on water temperatures, will help lobstermen and processors gear up for the 2015 fishing season.
The announcement was made Thursday by scientists with the Gulf of Maine Research Institute at a conference in Portland hosted by the Island Institute for fishermen and marine researchers.
Early indicators of lobster movement could help the industry prepare for the kind of conditions that occurred in 2012, when unusually high ocean temperatures prompted lobsters to shed their hard shells and migrate toward shore several weeks earlier than usual, resulting in a market glut and plummeting lobster prices.
Read the full story from the Portland Press Herald