Fake News -- Global Warming -- Food & WIne -- March 19, 2017

Updates

July 14, 2017: Lobster boom on CNBC, record lobster catch being reported on the US Atlantic Coast. From Boston.com: Maine fishermen set lobster record for seventh straight year. Regular readers know my fascination with this subject. So much for global warming hurting the lobster.

Original Post

 

From Food & Wine last autumn, after six consecutive years of new US lobster records:

From Fox Business today:

By the way, this is a huge success story due to dedicated marine biologists working with lobster men on the US east coast.

I blogged about the stunning comeback of the lobster industry back on May 7, 2011. From that post:

Link here.

PORTLAND, Maine — On the heels of last year’s (2010) record-shattering catch, another bountiful lobster harvest is expected this year (2011) in Maine.

Last year, Maine fishermen caught more than 90 million pounds of lobster, breaking the record of 81.2 million pounds in 2009. Even though the resource is in strong shape and signs are pointing to another whopper of a harvest, lobstermen are approaching the season ahead with caution.

For those interested in reading about the comeback of the lobster fishing industry, read The Secret Life of Lobsters: How Fishermen and Scientists Are Unraveling the Mysteries of Our Favorite Crustacean. Biologists saved the industry and lobster fishermen are indebted to them. Getting there was not easy for either party, however.

I read that book a few years ago. Incredible. It was a gift from my daughter when we visited her family in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. They now live in Boston area where we spend much of our time. As mentioned earlier, these are my ports o' call: Boston, the Bakken, San Pedro (California), and San Antonio (Texas).

I expect "fake news" in the political media like The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Washington Post, and, especially, The Los Angeles Times, but in Food and Wine? Give me a break.

By the way, I visit our local grocery store about four or five times a week. It's about a 2-minute bike ride. Yesterday as I walked past the fresh seafood I thought to myself: wow, I've never seen it so well-stocked, The Alaskan king crab is incredible. I can't believe how much they ad. Same with lobster. There certainly is no shortage of lobster in the DFW area. For years there have been restrictions on the size of lobster that could be harvested, but apparently those restrictions have been relaxed: I am seeing larger and larger fresh / living lobster for sale. It's really quite remarkable, especially considering that fifteen years ago there really was a concern about declining lobster populations. But it certainly was not due to global temperatures.

Memo to self: I haven't been to a Red Lobster Restaurant in decades. Literally decades.