Bay of Fundy warming threatens lobster, climate committee told

Rising temperatures in the Bay of Fundy may eventually have fishermen chasing squid and blue crab for a living instead of lobster,MLAs on the province's Select Committee on Climate Change heardTuesday.

"There's no water in the world warming faster than the water just off southwestern New Brunswick," said Donald Killorn of the group Eastern Charlotte Waterways.

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"When we're changing [ocean] temperature and we're changing pH [acidity],we're changing biodiversity."

Killorn told the committee that warm water has nearly killed the lobster fishery south of Massachusetts and caused a bumper catch in the Bay of Fundy as the species migrates north.But he warned that may be a temporary event as the Bay of Fundy warms as well.

Terrifying trend

"The next steps in this trend can be quite terrifying for an economy like southwestern New Brunswick where we depend on lobster," said Killorn.

The next steps in this trend can be quite terrifying for an economy like southwestern New Brunswick where we depend on lobster.- Donald Killorn, Eastern Charlotte Waterways

"We're changing biodiversity.We're seeing more green crab and the blue crab are now following them up from the Chesapeake," he said.

"It's getting warm enough to support blue crab in the Bay of Fundy.We see long fin inshore squid now starting to get established."

Killorn said government needs to pay closer attention to the changes underway in the Bay of Fundy and help fishermen switch species quickly when the time comes.

"We need you guys to help us make some of these transitions and identify them and understand them."

Brittle fisheries

Committee member and Green Party Leader David Coon said he found Killorn's presentation concerning.

"We have a very brittle fisheries now in New Brunswick," said Coon. "If something happened to the lobster, god forbid, it would be quite catastrophic."

The climate change committee was established in April by the Gallant government to look at ways New Brunswick could respond to and cope with rising global temperatures.It's expected to deliver a report to the Legislature by mid-October and has been holding public hearings around New Brunswick during the summer.