By Nora Flaherty
MPBN news story
A new report finds that climate change is seriously impacting Maine’s waterways. The report from the National Wildlife Federation finds that changes such as warmer winter temperatures and warmer oceans, mean important changes for Maine’s ecosystems.
Nick Bennett is staff scientist at the Natural Resources Council of Maine. He says climate change is affecting recreation activities, such as duck hunting, and it’s also having an impact on some of the state’s economic engines, like the commercial fishery.
“The mix of fish is changing; we’re finding in Maine species like black Seabass may move north,” Bennett says.
That’s because warming waters force cold water fish like trout and salmon to move north to live and spawn.
Bennett says another concern about climate change is the fact that the water’s acidity is increasing — which makes it difficult for shellfish like lobsters to grow their shells.
