Northeastern fishermen struggling with warming waters

Jun 27, 2016

Northeastern fishermen struggling with warming waters

Matt Bracken 1 Comment Nation climate change, fishing

After centuries of overfishing, pollution, foreign competition and increasing government regulation, the latest challenge for area fishermen is the one that’s doing them in: climate change.

: Elijah Voge-Meyers carries cod caught in the nets of a trawler off the coast of New Hampshire. Fishermen in the northeastern U.S. are struggling with warming waters that have transformed some of the country’s oldest and most historic commercial fisheries. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

: David Goethel sorts cod and haddock while fishing aboard his trawler off the coast of New Hampshire. To Goethe, cod represents his identity, his ticket to middle class life, and his link to one the country’s most historic industries, a fisherman who has caught New England’s most recognized fish for more than 30 years. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

: David Goethel flips a cod while sorting ground fish caught off the coast of New Hampshire. To Goethel, cod represents his identity, his ticket to middle class life, and his link to one the country’s most historic industries, a fisherman who has caught New England’s most recognized fish for more than 30 years. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

: David Goethel sorts cod and haddock while fishing off the coast of New Hampshire. To Goethel, cod represents his identity, his ticket to middle class life, and his link to one the country’s most historic industries, a fisherman who has caught New England’s most recognized fish for more than 30 years. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

: Cod, the larger fish at right, and silvery haddock, are sorted aboard a fishing boat off the coast of New Hampshire. After centuries of weathering overfishing, pollution, foreign competition and increasing government regulation, the latest challenge for area fishermen is the one that’s doing them in: climate change. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

: In this Thursday, May 19, 2016 photo, Mike Mohr, captain of the fishing vessel E.S.S. Pursuit, cradles quahog clams on the deck of his ship while offloading a two-day haul at a dock in New Bedford, Mass. Those clams, which he once caught off the New Jersey shore, have migrated northward or farther out to sea. About 10 years ago Mohr started commuting six hours each way from his New Jersey home to New Bedford to harvest them. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

: Mike Mohr, captain of the fishing vessel E.S.S. Pursuit, watches as his two-day haul of quahog clams is offloaded at a dock in New Bedford, Mass. Mohr commutes from his home in New Jersey to New Bedford so he and his 28-year-old son Danny can spend 20 days out of 30 aboard his ship to harvest the clams. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

: David Goethel returns to the harbor in Hampton, N.H. Fishing is in Goethel’s blood. He paid his way through Boston University by taking thrill-seekers out on ‘party boat’ fishing trips in Boston Harbor, and segued into commercial cod fishing in 1982. Today, he operates a trawler, scouring the Gulf of Maine for fish. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

: In this Thursday, May 19, 2016 photo, Mike Mohr, right, captain of the fishing vessel E.S.S. Pursuit, talks with his first mate while offloading a two two-day haul of quahog clams at a dock in New Bedford, Mass. Mohr commutes from his home in New Jersey to New Bedford so he and his 28-year-old son Danny can spend 20 days out of 30 aboard his ship to harvest the clams. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

: Former lobsterman Nick Crismale walks past his boat, which he sold last year, in Branford, Conn. Out of the business for four years, Crismale said it’s a shame that lobstering, often a multigenerational enterprise in New England, is reaching its end in Connecticut. Warming waters have caused lobsters to largely abandoned the once-lucrative waters off the southern New England states of Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

: Mike Mohr, captain of the fishing vessel E.S.S. Pursuit, poses while offloading a two-day haul of quahog clams at a dock in New Bedford, Mass. Those clams, which he once caught off the New Jersey shore, have migrated northward or farther out to sea. About 10 years ago, Mohr started commuting six hours each way from his New Jersey home to New Bedford to harvest them. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

: Former lobsterman Nick Crismale watches as a pallet of clams is lifted from the dock where his boat was based in Branford, Conn. Out of the business for four years, Crismale said it’s a shame that lobstering, often a multigenerational enterprise in New England, is reaching its end in Connecticut. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

: Former lobsterman Nick Crismale, left, and his wife, Arlene, pose at the Lobster Shack restaurant in Branford, Conn. Out of the lobstering business for four years, Crismale helps his wife run the restaurant. Warming waters have caused lobsters to largely abandoned the once-lucrative waters off the southern New England states of Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

: In this Thursday, May 19, 2016 photo, a basket of quahog clams are offloaded from the fishing vessel E.S.S. Pursuit after two days at sea, at a dock in New Bedford, Mass. About 10 years ago, clam harvester Mike Mohr started commuting six hours each way from his New Jersey home to New Bedford to follow the clams after they migrated northward. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

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