Lobster Deaths In Cape Cod Raise Climate Change Concern: Report

BARNSTABLE, MA — Last month, fishermen were at work catching lobsters in Cape Cod Bay. But when they brought the traps back up, the lobstermen had a disturbing surprise. All the lobsters they caught were dead, according to a report from WGBH.

This was not a one-time occurrence. The Massachusetts Lobstermen's Association continued to get calls from fishermen reporting the same thing, causing researchers from the Division of Marine Fisheries and the Center for Coastal Studies to investigate. The investigation revealed concern that climate change may be what's causing the lobsters to die.

An analysis of the water quality at the bay's bottom showed dangerously low levels of oxygen, which were killing the lobsters. Owen Nichols, the director of marine fisheries research at the Center for Coastal Studies, told WGBH warmer than usual water temperatures this summer may have played a role.

He said as water temperatures rise, it warms in layers, so the cold water gets trapped at the bottom. As animals breathe in anything at the ocean floor that decomposes, the oxygen gets pulled from the water. The fish can escape by swimming to where there's more oxygen, but any lobsters that ends up in traps suffocate.

For more on this story, check out WGBH.