In Maine, lobstermen last year took home over a half-billion dollars in revenue.
However, that fishery remains under threat as warming waters drive invasive species into lobsters’ habitats, species that both compete for resources and hunt the native lobsters. Working lobstermen’s ecological knowledge can be key in untangling these complicated dynamics, according to a Northeastern University professor of marine and environmental sciences.
Using an in-depth survey and interview process of lobstermen in Maine and Massachusetts, Northeastern University professor Jonathan Grabowski and his intercollegiate team studied the innate knowledge that lobster fishermen have of complex food-web relationships and animal interactions within and across different habitats. Their findings demonstrate that the insights of lobstermen, and local fishermen more broadly, provide an invaluable understanding of changing ecosystems as fishery management practices struggle to keep up.
Read more at Northeastern Global News
Photo by Alyssa Stone/Northeastern University
