ORONO, Maine, Oct. 15 -- University of Maine issued the following news release:
A steep drop in baby lobsters provided an early warning of the sharp decline in adult lobsters along Maine's midcoast, a new University of Maine study shows.
Researchers found that an 80% decline in baby lobster sampled from 2010 to 2022 was followed by a 70% decline in young lobsters since 2015 and a 50% decline in adults large enough for lobstermen to catch. The findings trace the losses through successive life stages, showing how fewer baby lobsters preceded fewer adults available to the fishery.
The midcoast, which ranges from Brunswick to the Schoodic Peninsula, is where researchers recorded the steepest declines in the Gulf of Maine. Those losses follow...