In Hot Water: Climate Challenges in the Gulf of Maine

The Gulf of Maine is warming faster than 99% of the ocean. 

In the first episode of In Hot Water, Maine, we hear from researchers at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, the University of Maine, the Island Institute and people working on the water who share the current challenges facing the Gulf of Maine’s fisheries and coastal communities such as invasive green crabs, sea level rise, coastal erosion, ocean acidification, increasing 100-year storms, and aging wastewater treatment facilities.

There’s no quick fix for seafood harvesters in the Gulf, but climate solutions do exist. From encouraging species diversification to actively involving frontline communities, changemakers are leading a new path for seafood in Maine.

Produced by Seafood and Gender Equality (SAGE) and Seaworthy, the “In Hot Water” podcast explores SEAFOOD and CLIMATE JUSTICE in distinct regions.

Episode Guide

• :00 Intro to In Hot Water, Maine Edition
• 01:50 Meet Kyle Foley, Sustainable Seafood Director at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI), who works with businesses to get more regional seafood into the local marketplace
• 06:24 Setting the stage: The Gulf of Maine is warming at a rate three times faster than the global oceans
• 08:32 Meet Hannah Baranes, Coastal Hazards Scientist at GMRI, who is working on understanding the coastal flooding that's becoming more severe as sea levels rise 
• 12:34 GMRI has a Climate Center that is an end-to-end service provider for communities grappling with climate change in coastal Maine. Scientists work on the physical drivers of climate change, engaging with communities and municipal leaders to understand their needs and processes and working with them on implementing solutions
• 14:41 Meet Susie Arnold, Senior Ocean Scientist at the Island Institute and the Director of the Center for Climate and Community
• 15:37 The Maine Climate Council produces science translation pieces to summarize the latest research on ocean and terrestrial climate change. They host Fishermen's Climate Roundtables, to hear topics of concern from fishers on the water every day.
• 18:43 Years of policy and research on how the Gulf of Maine is going to be impacted by ocean acidification has lead to some interesting findings
• 20:05 Meet Libby Davis, founder, owner, and operator of Lady Shuckers, a mobile raw bar and event company, who is witnessing firsthand how the future of oysters—a highly valuable protein source—is compromised due to the increased acidity of warming waters
• 21:48 Meet Dr. Tora Johnson, Professor of Environmental Studies and Geography at the University of Maine, Machias who shares the myriad of ways that climate change is impacting both Maine’s clam and lobster fisheries
• 23:52 Mudflats - why they are important
• 26:40 The world’s worst invasive species, the green crab, is thriving, and wreaking havoc, in a world affected by climate change
• 28:56 Meet Kanae Tokunaga, an economist who studies fisheries, aquaculture, seafood,  and anything related to coastal and marine socio-ecological systems at GMRI, looking at fisheries systems, which include the human side of fisheries
• 32:59 How fisheries systems are responding to the challenges created by climate change

Resources

1. Recommend this series to anyone who enjoys seafood and is curious about how climate change is affecting our seafood-producing regions.