October 8, 2024 — Warming ocean temperatures are boosting the populations of small blob-like creatures in Maine’s coastal waters, causing problems for fishermen.
The small invertebrates, several species of which are invasive, are attaching themselves in large numbers to lobster traps and aquaculture equipment, at times creating a major hassle for harvesters as they try to tend to their gear.
“The month of September, they come on like gangbusters,” Hilton Turner, a lobsterman and chair of Stonington’s harbor committee, said about the tunicates, which are better known as sea squirts.