Neighbors Moving In? Assessing the Range Expansion of Black Sea Bass and Blue Crabs into the Gulf of Maine

The warming of the worlds oceans has begun to restructure marine communities, influencing the distribution of species. In the Gulf of Maine, several species have begun to expand their geographic range northward, with potential implications to valued fisheries in the region. Black sea bass and blue crabs are two species that have been observed northward beyond their known geographic ranges. Historically, black sea bass and blue crabs were considered rare in the waters north of Cape Cod, MA. However, in recent years both species have been observed by fishers and beach combers as far north as mid-coast Maine. During the summer of 2023, Helen Cheng conducted collaborative field surveys for black sea bass and blue crabs. For black sea bass, she aimed to assess their distributions in their known historic range of Rhode Island and their expanded range of northern Massachusetts. For blue crabs, Helen identified their prevalence in estuaries that span along a latitudinal gradient from Massachusetts to Maine. In this presentation, Helen will share preliminary data and results from these two region-wide surveys and their implications to the Gulf of Maine and valued ecosystems and fisheries.

About the Presenter

Helen Cheng is a Ph.D. Candidate at Northeastern University and a Margaret A. Davidson Graduate Fellow hosted at Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve. Her research focuses on the ecological and socio-economic impacts of range-expanding species on the American lobster fishery. Prior to Northeastern University, Helen worked at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Sea Grant Office as a John A. Knauss Fellow, where she was introduced to marine policy at the federal level, and at New York Sea Grant as the Coastal Resilience Extension Specialist based in New York City, working on the translation and communication of relevant science and local knowledge of climate and urban ecological issues to inform decision-making and research. In her free time, Helen enjoys paddleboarding, traveling, and cooking and baking.