(At left) American Lobster landings 1950-2020. Blue represents the value in millions of dollars; the orange line in millions of pounds. Source: A fishery in a sea of change/NYSG StoryMap; (At right) A Maine lobster fisherman sorts the day’s catch aboard his vessel. Credit: Antoinette Clemetson/NYSG
Contact:
Antoinette Clemetson, NYSG Marine Fisheries Specialist, E: aoc5@cornell.edu, P: (631) 824-4407
NYSG provided extension support to the American Lobster Research Initiative
Stony Brook, NY, May 27, 2025 - A quarter of a century has passed since the American lobster mass mortality event in Long Island Sound (LIS). Since, the population and fishery have not recovered. Sustained elevated ocean temperature was attributed to be the driving force behind this die-off. Changing climate exacerbates American lobster habitat conditions, regionally, especially in the Gulf of Maine where these water temperatures continue increasing at an alarming rate. An active research effort is underway to better understand the effects of changing climate to promote resiliency in the Northeastern U.S. coastal communities that depend on this fishery.
New York Sea Grant (NYSG) participated in the regional effort to provide extension support to the American Lobster Research Initiative (ALRI) being administered by Maine Sea Grant. NYSG partnered with Connecticut Sea Grant to prepare oral histories documenting perspectives on the LIS American lobster fishery disaster. Two student journalists interviewed twelve NY-based narrators sharing industry, management, and research experiences. Seven of these interviews were uploaded to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Voices From the Fisheries website for public access, and additional interviews are available from NYSG. The ALI also supported a team from the Wells National Estuarine Reserve that recently completed a report of the 20-year retrospective review of American lobster research and has submitted a journal manuscript for peer review. NYSG also assisted with the effort to plan the 2024 ALI Research Summit that was convened on February 12-13, 2024, in Portland, ME. The agenda included a research oceanographer presentation describing the effects of changing climate on LIS water quality.
These milestones mark the culmination of a four-year award from the NOAA National Sea Grant Office. NYSG provided knowledge and experience gained from the LIS American lobster die-off to inform ongoing efforts to help build resiliency in Gulf of Maine American lobster fishing communities.
Project Partners/Funders:
• Connecticut Sea Grant
• Maine Sea Grant
• Funding: NOAA National Sea Grant Office
More Info: New York Sea Grant
Established in 1966, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s National Sea Grant College Program promotes the informed stewardship of coastal resources in 34 joint federal/state university-based programs in every U.S. coastal state (marine and Great Lakes) and Puerto Rico. The Sea Grant model has also inspired similar projects in the Pacific region, Korea and Indonesia.
Since 1971, New York Sea Grant (NYSG) has represented a statewide network of integrated research, education and extension services promoting coastal community economic vitality, environmental sustainability and citizen awareness and understanding about the State’s marine and Great Lakes resources.
NYSG historically leverages on average a 3 to 6-fold return on each invested federal dollar, annually. We benefit from this, as these resources are invested in Sea Grant staff and their work in communities right here in New York.
Through NYSG’s efforts, the combined talents of university scientists and extension specialists help develop and transfer science-based information to many coastal user groups—businesses and industries, federal, state and local government decision-makers and agency managers, educators, the media and the interested public.
New York Sea Grant, one of the largest of the state Sea Grant programs, is a cooperative program of the State University of New York (SUNY) and Cornell University. The program maintains Great Lakes offices at Cornell University, SUNY Buffalo, Rochester Institute of Technology, SUNY Oswego, the Wayne County Cooperative Extension office in Newark, and in Watertown. In the State's marine waters, NYSG has offices at Stony Brook University and with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Nassau County on Long Island, in Queens, at Brooklyn College, with Cornell Cooperative Extension in NYC, in Bronx, with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County in Kingston, and with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Westchester County in Elmsford.
For updates on Sea Grant activities: www.nyseagrant.org, follow us on social media (Facebook, Twitter/X, Instagram, Bluesky, LinkedIn, and YouTube). NYSG offers a free e-list sign up via www.nyseagrant.org/nycoastlines for its flagship publication, NY Coastlines/Currents, which it publishes 2-3 times a year.