Introduction
The fishing industry is a diverse industry that includes many activities and practices concerning fish and has been in existence for many decades. Nonetheless, the industry over the years has been faced with a wide range of issues with the most critical being environment issues. The environmental issues have thus resulted in the threat of aquatic life, particularly the fish family. The survival of lobsters particularly in Maines, New England in this regard has been forced to depend on water temperatures, the cleanliness of the of the habitat and the increasing concerns about the rising cases of the lobster shell disease. The single most issue contributing to the named factors that eventually causes the threat to lobster life in New England is the input of anthropogenic matter. The fact that human activities have necessitated the extinction of the top-level predators has left human activity as the single most threat to fish life in the waters of Maines in New England. The solution to the threat of lobsters brought about by anthropogenic matter can thus be to conduct more studies to reveal the extent of the effect of human activities on sea life for policies to be developed and instituted to curb further threats.
The New England region in the US is highly known for seafood with lobsters being a noted delicacy in the area. The state of Maine in the region is specifically known for its seafood cuisine with lobsters and clams being the most prominent (Urban 10). The fact the state and the region are situated strategically located along the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean respectively, provide the regions the above-noted advantage. Nonetheless, the threat to aquatic life like in many areas is also present in the region with New England’s lobster facing prevalent attacks from lobster shell diseases thus making the marketing and sale of the lobsters strenuous. Warm waters are also to cause the reduction of aquatic animals with scientist believing there exist a connection between the change in climate and the lobster shell disease.
Literature Review
The prevalence of the lobster shell disease in Maines and the larger New England region has for years been researched to realize its cause and contributing factors together the effects. Glenn and Tracy (2006) in their research on the existence of lobster shell disease also referred to as the Epizootic shell disease noted the need for research to find out the causes of the disease factors contributing to its spread in the coastal waters of New England (Glenn and Tracy 639-645). In their research, they noted the disease was mostly prevalent during the melting season between May and June signifying the contribution of climate change to the occurrence of the disease. Cobb and Kathleen in their article “Shell disease in lobsters a synthesis” highlight that despite its existence in the earlier decades, the lobster shell disease has grown to be more prevalent in the recent times (Cobb and Kathleen 23). In their arguments, they argue that the lack of human activities can be linked to the minimal cases of the disease seeing as there did not exist much industrial activity in the past. In their findings, Castro et al.(2006) suggest that even though the change in weather does not directly affect lobsters in causing their immediate death, the fact that the disease becomes more prevalent when the waters are warm, especially along the coastal waters of the New England region speaks volume climate change contributing to the phenomenon (Castro, et al. 646-660). The lobsters of New England due to debatable reasons have been realized to increase during the warm seasons. The assertion by Castro et al. gives support to the suggestions that there is a connection between climate change and the disease. Moreover, Tlusty et al. (2007) underlines this perception by stating that “high temperatures have the ability to increase the rate which bacteria” causing the disease grows to add more concern to the effects of human activities on aquatic life (Tlusty, et al. 215-225). Bergmann et al. (2015) in conducting a study on the effects of anthropogenic litter on fish, noted that the rise of industrial activities in the US such as the mining of coal could be blamed to trigger the rise of the many aquatic diseases in aquatic animals (Bergmann, Lars and Michael 234). Thus, it served to hint that human activities were dangerous to fish life.
Before the rise of industrialization, Tlusty et al. (2007) notes that there occurred a relatively healthy life of sea animals. Also, the authors assert that it cannot be ruled out that waste products dumped in the sea and oil spills not suitable for aquatic life can disintegrate without affecting aquatic life. While other animals in the sea may survive the effects of the waste, consumption of other animals or plants in the aquatic environment can still cause them great harm. The authors indicate that this is because the consumed aquatic elements by the given aquatic animals may have also partaken of the waste products ending up as poison in their system. Nonetheless, the note that in the case of the lobsters, the warm temperatures of the waters contribute highly to the growth and spread of the bacteria responsible for the disease. Chistoserdov et al. (2012) in a study to find out the adverse effects of sea water on aquatic animals’ diseases and bacteria in their conclusion highlighted that warm water emitted warm temperatures that resulted in the death of sick sea animals at a faster rate compared to cold waters (Chistoserdov, et al. 449-462). Using the example of a lab experiment on sea stars, the authors discovered that the sea stars succumbed quickly at warm temperatures when immersed in warm water while they survived when immersed in cold water. Thus, the experiment served to reveal more findings on the possibility of warmer sea temperatures being connected to the death of lobsters by triggering the growth of the disease-causing bacteria in the lobsters and also weakening the animals’ immune system.
Discussion
Though there has existed debate from many sectors over the years on the effect of anthropogenic litter resulting from human activities on lobsters specifically, most research point to the idea as the main cause of lobster shell disease in the fish. While in many cases most species face threats from the interconnection with other species in their ecosystem that may be defined by either competition or the predator/prey interaction, the threat facing lobsters in the New England region presents a different scenario. Lobsters only danger from sea predators is faced when they are young with dangers coming from sea animals such as dogfish, monkfish and wolfish. When the lobsters are grown, they develop stronger mechanisms that only leaves humankind and octopuses as their main predator. The human generation asides from using the animals in their attempts to survive, create a lot of waste from very many sectors that are deemed to be the sole source of danger to the global environment. While research has alluded to the possibility of temperature change triggering the spread and cause of lobster shell in lobsters, human activities are the main agents of the recent abnormal temperature changes affecting aquatic life.
Human generation depends on various activities to survive. Like, the lobster depends on the waters to survive so do mankind on the natural resources such as coal. However, the mining and manufacture of these natural resources can sometimes prove hazardous to the larger environment. Waste from the manufacture of the natural resources often interferes with the weather patterns due to the emission of green gasses into the atmosphere (Ham and R J. 78). Introspect, the green gasses elicit abnormal climate changes that extended to interfere with the aquatic life. Lobsters are scientifically regarded to be cold-blooded with their body temperatures influenced by habitat. Higher temperatures are known to force cold-blooded animals to use a lot more energy for respiration (Abate 75). At such times, the lobsters are often left with less energy to carry out other crucial activities such as feeding, storing energy with their immune system being low. While lobsters like many other sea animals are known to depend on the temperature present on the ocean floor, the idea that anthropogenic litter from human activities interferes with the oceanic temperature can then be blamed for the spread and cause of lobster shell disease.
In the past, there were fewer human activities with industrialization having not taken effect. Aquatic life then faced little threat from human activities other than the need for consumption. While currently increased human activity has resulted to the interference of the flow of the sun deemed a significant source of energy, most organisms enjoyed the constant flow of energy in their survival. The sun is responsibilities for the regulation of various climatic factors that are also enjoyed by the lobsters (Cobb and Bruce 323). The New England region is specifically known to be a hub for lobsters and many other sea cuisines due to the fair weather pattern the region enjoyed before the change in weather patterns influenced by increased human activities in the recent times. Human activities, however, have interfered with the regulation and flow of the sun thus causing the adverse effect on other ecosystems such as increased sea temperatures. The fact that the emergence of more companies such as coal manufacturing companies’ rise coincides with the rising cases of lobster shell disease raises concerns of the possibilities of interfering with aquaculture and aquatic life. The perception resonates with the finding and suggestions of many researchers seeing as coal mining is responsible for the release of green gasses that cause abnormal changes in the earth’s weather pattern. Green gasses are known to cause the pollution of sea waters through triggering the falling of acidic rain that also go a greater length in encouraging climate changes.
Conclusion
The threat to lobsters in the state of Maine in the New England region and also to the larger New England region, according to the discussion above can solely be attributed to solely to human activities. Human activities such mining and manufacturing result to waste that significantly contribute to the changes in weather patterns and eventually climate change. The climate change brought about by the human activities is then evidenced in the high temperatures of sea waters that go forth to weaken the immune systems of lobsters enabling the quick spread of the lobster shell disease the eventual death of the lobsters in the New England region. The fact that a wide number of researchers present the same conclusion reiterates that human activities are responsible for the threats on lobsters. As such, it warrants to suggest that more research needs to be carried out to ascertain the responsibility of human activities in the threat to the existence of lobsters for mitigation effort to be implemented.
