Drop in Gulf of Maine Baby Lobster Population Puzzles Scientists

Baby lobsters from the Gulf of Maine have had their number reduced by half since 2007 - a phenomenon that has scientists puzzled since the population of adult lobsters remains near a record high, Reuters reported.

The tiny critters take eight years to reach harvestable size, meaning the state's 4,200 lobstermen could feel the dip soon.

Nearly 70 percent of Maine's total seafood harvest comes from these lobster snatchers, who hauled in a record catch worth $365 million last year.

Despite these staggering numbers, the downward trend has lobstermen, retailers, state officials, and ocean scientists concerned.

"It's our first indicator that things might be changing in the future," Carl Wilson, Maine's state lobster biologist, told the The Associated Press. "Low settlement, it's thought, in the future will lead to lower landings."

Lobster settlement is the process in which young lobsters reach the ocean floor and grow.

Warmer ocean temperatures, pollution, atmospheric conditions and changes in predation and availability of food could all be to blame for lower settlement, say scientists, state officials and industry leaders. Lobsters are very sensitive to even subtle changes in temperature, scientists report.

There's a reason we associate Maine with lobsters - the state led in American lobster landings for the 29th year in a row, with landings of 94.7 million pounds in 2010, according to NOAA.

The state has about 4,500 active lobstermen and 2 million lobster traps in the water, Wilson said. Generally, large catches follow high levels years earlier of baby lobster settlement, but that pace may not be sustainable.

"We don't know if we're coming to a stable period, or if we're going to come back down to Earth," Wilson said. "But I think for the first time, we're starting to see a change in the system."