Shell shocked
Lobstermen fear for their livelihoods as the waters of Long Island Sound warm up and harvests dwindle
By Gregory B. Hladky, Globe Correspondent | July 13, 2008
BRANFORD, Conn. - Nick Crismale leaned against the stack of rusty wire lobster traps he was repairing and shook his head.
"I should be out fishing," he said, glancing toward his two boats as they rocked nearby in the harbor's gentle swell.
In good times, on an early summer morning like this one, Crismale would have had all his traps set and both boats working to bring in the rich lobster harvest that has kept him in business for the past 26 years. But times are anything but good.
"I've got 800 traps in the water and I've got another 1,200 to put in," Crismale explained. "I don't know why I'm putting them in, but I'm putting them in."
Crismale, like many lobstermen working Long Island Sound these days, fears that his way of life might be coming to an end.
"Homarus americanus," the lobster Connecticut fishermen have been catching for centuries, is a cold-water species. The sound is at the very southern end of its natural range.
Marine specialists say temperature records for the past 30 years indicate the sound is slowly heating up, a trend some attribute to global warming. If the sound's average temperature continues to rise by just a few degrees, lobsters could disappear from its waters.
But the same warming trend that seems to be hurrying the decline of lobsters and other cold-water species in the sound could offer a strange sort of ecological compensation. Blue crabs, creatures that flourish in warmer waters, are booming.
While hard numbers are nonexistent, in the past year, fishermen in Connecticut and Long Island have been telling marine specialists they've never seen so many blue crabs.
"Anecdotally, there have been reports . . . of much higher numbers of blue crabs in many [bays and river estuaries] in the western end of the sound," reported Mark Tedesco, director of the Environmental Protection Agency's Long Island Sound office.
"It's certainly possible we're seeing a shift in Long Island Sound from the [ecological] system that it's been," Tedesco said.
It is getting to the point that John German, the president of the Long Island Sound Lobstermen's Association, predicted a change in vocation for his members.
"We could all be crabbing in a few years," German said.
Long Island Sound happens to be at the northern end of the blue crab's range. Recreational fishermen in Connecticut have always been able to find some crabs, but state officials say the numbers have never been high enough to sustain commercial fishing.
Tedesco said a decline in cold-water species such as lobsters and an increase in warm-water species such as blue crabs is precisely the sort of change scientists predict global warming will produce.
"The change from lobsters to blue crab is a fairly obvious change," Tedesco said. "That would be Ecology 101."
It doesn't take a big change in temperature to have an impact. According to Tedesco, three decade's worth of readings taken near the Millstone nuclear power plants on the eastern Connecticut shoreline show average water temperatures have increased by a little less than 2 degrees Fahrenheit.
In the summer, lobsters prefer water temperatures on the floor of the sound to stay below 68-69 degrees Fahrenheit. "Above that, lobsters don't do well and are more prone to diseases and high mortality rates," said David Simpson, associate director of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection's marine fisheries unit.
Simpson said his agency has not documented any increase in the numbers of the sound's blue crabs. But state surveys show boosts in populations of fish such as black sea bass and hickory shad that historically preferred warmer Southern waters.
"As a group, we are seeing an increase over the last 20 years or so of these warm-temperature species," said Simpson. He said fish species such as winter flounder and tomcod that thrive in cooler waters appear to be declining in the sound.
"I think it's beyond Long Island Sound," Simpson said. "I think it reflects temperature changes along the whole coast."
Some scientists say there is not enough hard data to blame the decline of the sound's lobsters on global warming. Many lobstermen on Long Island and in Connecticut allege that pesticides used in the campaign against West Nile virus-carrying mosquitoes are the true culprits.
There is no disagreement, however, about what has happened to the number of lobsters in the sound.
Scientists believe that an extraordinarily warm summer in 1999 weakened the sound's lobsters, leaving them vulnerable to diseases and pollution. Some specialists put the death rate at 80 percent. The lobster population has not recovered from that terrible "die-off" and there are growing concerns it never will.
In the late 1990's, prior to the great die-off, nearly 12 million pounds of lobsters were taken out of Long Island Sound each year. The catch dwindled to between 2 million and 3 million pounds annually the last few years.
For lobstermen, that translates into a drop in annual earnings from a peak of about $42 million to barely $8 million.
At Abbott's Lobster in the Rough, an iconic restaurant on Groton's waterfront, most of the customers have no idea that nearly all the lobsters they're eating are imported.
"We buy from a major wholesaler," explained Jerry Mears, whose family has owned the outdoor restaurant for 30 years. "He does have some local product, but the vast majority of his stuff comes from Canada."
"We used to have fishermen working right off our dock," Mears recalled. "But we slowly phased that out." He said few lobsters taken in the sound were more than 1 1/2 pounds, a serious problem for a restaurant specializing in offering lobsters 2 pounds and larger.
Last year, Connecticut's General Assembly approved $1.1 million in funding for a program to restore lobster-breeding stocks in Long Island Sound. Lobstermen are paid for each female lobster of breeding age they catch, mark, and return to the water.
But money is running out and attempts to pump fresh funding into the program fell victim to the state's growing budget problems.
Crismale, 58, has a grimmer outlook. As president of the Connecticut Commercial Lobstermen's Association the past 11 years, he has seen membership melt away. The number of licenses issued to lobstermen declined from 442 in 1998 to 252 last year.
He worries that by the time there are enough crabs in to support commercial fishing, there will not be any commercial fishermen left on his side of the sound.
And it is not just the lack of lobsters that is driving lobstermen out of business. When Crismale fuels up his two boats, each of which usually takes on 300 to 400 gallons of diesel, the bill can run well over $2,700.
"Rent, fuel, insurance - they're all going up," Crismale explained, a frown creasing his tanned face. "I don't think we'll be here in five years."
Lobstermen fear for their livelihoods as the waters of Long Island Sound warm up and harvests dwindle
By Gregory B. Hladky, Globe Correspondent | July 13, 2008
BRANFORD, Conn. - Nick Crismale leaned against the stack of rusty wire lobster traps he was repairing and shook his head.
"I should be out fishing," he said, glancing toward his two boats as they rocked nearby in the harbor's gentle swell.
In good times, on an early summer morning like this one, Crismale would have had all his traps set and both boats working to bring in the rich lobster harvest that has kept him in business for the past 26 years. But times are anything but good.
"I've got 800 traps in the water and I've got another 1,200 to put in," Crismale explained. "I don't know why I'm putting them in, but I'm putting them in."
Crismale, like many lobstermen working Long Island Sound these days, fears that his way of life might be coming to an end.
"Homarus americanus," the lobster Connecticut fishermen have been catching for centuries, is a cold-water species. The sound is at the very southern end of its natural range.
Marine specialists say temperature records for the past 30 years indicate the sound is slowly heating up, a trend some attribute to global warming. If the sound's average temperature continues to rise by just a few degrees, lobsters could disappear from its waters.
But the same warming trend that seems to be hurrying the decline of lobsters and other cold-water species in the sound could offer a strange sort of ecological compensation. Blue crabs, creatures that flourish in warmer waters, are booming.
While hard numbers are nonexistent, in the past year, fishermen in Connecticut and Long Island have been telling marine specialists they've never seen so many blue crabs.
"Anecdotally, there have been reports . . . of much higher numbers of blue crabs in many [bays and river estuaries] in the western end of the sound," reported Mark Tedesco, director of the Environmental Protection Agency's Long Island Sound office.
"It's certainly possible we're seeing a shift in Long Island Sound from the [ecological] system that it's been," Tedesco said.
It is getting to the point that John German, the president of the Long Island Sound Lobstermen's Association, predicted a change in vocation for his members.
"We could all be crabbing in a few years," German said.
Long Island Sound happens to be at the northern end of the blue crab's range. Recreational fishermen in Connecticut have always been able to find some crabs, but state officials say the numbers have never been high enough to sustain commercial fishing.
Tedesco said a decline in cold-water species such as lobsters and an increase in warm-water species such as blue crabs is precisely the sort of change scientists predict global warming will produce.
"The change from lobsters to blue crab is a fairly obvious change," Tedesco said. "That would be Ecology 101."
It doesn't take a big change in temperature to have an impact. According to Tedesco, three decade's worth of readings taken near the Millstone nuclear power plants on the eastern Connecticut shoreline show average water temperatures have increased by a little less than 2 degrees Fahrenheit.
In the summer, lobsters prefer water temperatures on the floor of the sound to stay below 68-69 degrees Fahrenheit. "Above that, lobsters don't do well and are more prone to diseases and high mortality rates," said David Simpson, associate director of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection's marine fisheries unit.
Simpson said his agency has not documented any increase in the numbers of the sound's blue crabs. But state surveys show boosts in populations of fish such as black sea bass and hickory shad that historically preferred warmer Southern waters.
"As a group, we are seeing an increase over the last 20 years or so of these warm-temperature species," said Simpson. He said fish species such as winter flounder and tomcod that thrive in cooler waters appear to be declining in the sound.
"I think it's beyond Long Island Sound," Simpson said. "I think it reflects temperature changes along the whole coast."
Some scientists say there is not enough hard data to blame the decline of the sound's lobsters on global warming. Many lobstermen on Long Island and in Connecticut allege that pesticides used in the campaign against West Nile virus-carrying mosquitoes are the true culprits.
There is no disagreement, however, about what has happened to the number of lobsters in the sound.
Scientists believe that an extraordinarily warm summer in 1999 weakened the sound's lobsters, leaving them vulnerable to diseases and pollution. Some specialists put the death rate at 80 percent. The lobster population has not recovered from that terrible "die-off" and there are growing concerns it never will.
In the late 1990's, prior to the great die-off, nearly 12 million pounds of lobsters were taken out of Long Island Sound each year. The catch dwindled to between 2 million and 3 million pounds annually the last few years.
For lobstermen, that translates into a drop in annual earnings from a peak of about $42 million to barely $8 million.
At Abbott's Lobster in the Rough, an iconic restaurant on Groton's waterfront, most of the customers have no idea that nearly all the lobsters they're eating are imported.
"We buy from a major wholesaler," explained Jerry Mears, whose family has owned the outdoor restaurant for 30 years. "He does have some local product, but the vast majority of his stuff comes from Canada."
"We used to have fishermen working right off our dock," Mears recalled. "But we slowly phased that out." He said few lobsters taken in the sound were more than 1 1/2 pounds, a serious problem for a restaurant specializing in offering lobsters 2 pounds and larger.
Last year, Connecticut's General Assembly approved $1.1 million in funding for a program to restore lobster-breeding stocks in Long Island Sound. Lobstermen are paid for each female lobster of breeding age they catch, mark, and return to the water.
But money is running out and attempts to pump fresh funding into the program fell victim to the state's growing budget problems.
Crismale, 58, has a grimmer outlook. As president of the Connecticut Commercial Lobstermen's Association the past 11 years, he has seen membership melt away. The number of licenses issued to lobstermen declined from 442 in 1998 to 252 last year.
He worries that by the time there are enough crabs in to support commercial fishing, there will not be any commercial fishermen left on his side of the sound.
And it is not just the lack of lobsters that is driving lobstermen out of business. When Crismale fuels up his two boats, each of which usually takes on 300 to 400 gallons of diesel, the bill can run well over $2,700.
"Rent, fuel, insurance - they're all going up," Crismale explained, a frown creasing his tanned face. "I don't think we'll be here in five years."