I have been engaged in various Maine fisheries since 1971. During the twentieth century, and into the twentyfirst century, the coastal waters were consistently too cold for swimming, even during the heat of summer.
The electronics on my boat show the surface temperature only, so I can’t say what the subsurface temps are. Up until yesterday, the warmest surface water I had ever encountered was 71.4 degrees. This year however, the water has warmed faster than any time in my decades of fishing. As of yesterday, the surface temperature five miles out from port was 83.8 degrees.
This has complicated the process of lobster fishing, as warmer water is less capable of holding oxygen. Most lobster boats carry a tank which circulates ocean water into which the lobsters are placed as they are caught. Yesterday, I observed one boat offloading his catch, and as he did, I observed him throwing many dead lobsters overboard. They had presumably suffocated from low oxygen content.
So now we have Comrade Trump’s insane tariffs (TAXES) which prompted a 45% Chinese tariff on lobster. We have the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission placing ever more draconian restrictions on the herring catch which has caused the price of a barrel of bait to go from $135/barrel two years ago to as much as $225-$250 a barrel.
We have the Idiot-in-Chief threatening war with oil producing nations which is causing the price of fuel to skyrocket, and top it all off, we have ocean water so warm it is difficult to keep our catch alive.
Ours is only one industry of many to be severely damaged by the actions of the Repugnicans who voted the Cretin-in-Chief into office.
As a lifelong liberal who believes in the power of love over the love of power, I have often stated my belief that if the GOP could ever win complete control of the government, their actions would be so outrageous that their party would go the way of the buggy whip...once useful to the point of being indispensable, morphing into an anachronism.