Author of “The Last Lobster” coming to Topside Inn
Cover of “The Last Lobster.” Courtesy of St. Martin’s Press
Christopher White, author of “The Last Lobster.” Courtesy of St. Martin’s Press
Cover of “The Last Lobster.” Courtesy of St. Martin’s Press
Christopher White, author of “The Last Lobster.” Courtesy of St. Martin’s Press
Author Christopher White will be at Topside Inn in Boothbay Harbor June 27 for a reading and book-signing of his new book, “The Last Lobster: Boom or Bust for Maine’s Greatest Fishery?”
A graduate of Princeton University, White grew up in Maryland on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay. He is the author of numerous books, including “Skipjack: The Story of America’s Last Sailing Oystermen” and “The Melting World: A Journey Across America’s Vanishing Glaciers.”
A press release from White’s publicist, St. Martin’s Press, describes the new book’s premise: “In the last five years, Maine lobstermen have claimed a bonanza – the annual harvest has exceeded 120 million pounds, six times that of the harvest from the 1980s – unheard of in coastal fisheries. Yet the oversupply of lobster has prompted a drop in price, so lobstermen must work even harder than before. But how long can this boom last?
“Can the Maine Coast, reliant as it is on the seafood industry, survive it? In ‘The Last Lobster’ … White … examines this curious boom in America’s beloved lobster industry and predicts its probable crash.”
The release states that two theories for the boom stand out: A sudden lack of predators and the recent warming of ocean waters, possibly disrupting the lobsters’ reproductive cycle. “Lobsters could be the next natural indicator of global warming.”
The book examines the life of Maine lobstermen and offers insight into their dependency on large catches, and the possibility the present boom may be in the stages of decline. According to the release, ocean warming is causing hundreds of marine species to migrate northward. “If the migration continues, the American lobster may end up in Canada … as high temperatures are displacing lobsters northward at a rate of nearly 50 miles a decade, the last lobster may be just ahead.”
White’s articles have appeared in Audubon, The Baltimore Sun, The New Mexican, National Geographic, and Exploration.
If you’d like to learn more about “The Last Lobster,” and meet the author, call 633-5404, or email info@topsideinn.com. The event begins at 4 p.m.
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