Maine fishing ports grow busier as lobster prices drive coastal activity
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s latest “State of the Ecosystem” report for New England waters found that the Gulf of Maine ecosystem is unstable despite a slowdown in ocean warming, the Associated Press reported. The report was presented to the New England Fishery Management Council in April and published online last week.
The gulf experienced more than a decade of rapid and record-breaking warming, but water temperatures cooled in 2024 and 2025. NOAA scientists forecast that temperatures will rise again this fall and continue climbing over the long term as the burning of fossil fuels releases greenhouse gases.
Some fishing ports in Maine — including Stonington, Harpswell, and Friendship — are busier now than they were roughly 20 years ago, according to the report. The scientists said the growth is likely driven by high lobster prices.