Clam Manual - July 7, 1998


"SPROOOIIINNNGGG!" went the Rubber Band

The Lobster Institute has been hard at work, testing five varieties of rubber bands commercially available to lobstermen. The test was designed to see which band lost the least of its elasticity after three months submerged in seawater.

The initial elasticity of the rubber bands was tested with a custom-made measuring device exerting 4 kg. tensile force. The bands were then stretched over 1 1/2"-wide PVC pipe and submerged in 32 degree seawater for three months.

The strongest band after this trial was the Union Blue bands, which lost approximately half their elasticity. The Union Tan Shedder bands were the next strongest, losing just 38% of their elasticity. Alliance Yellow bands were the weakest of the five selected bands, losing 33% of their elasticity. Over the ten individual Alliance Yellow bands tested, five bands simply broke during the test.

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LOBSTER INSTITUTE BOARD OF ADVISORS

Chair
William Adler, Scituate, Mass.

Vice Chair
Herbert Hodgkins, Hancock, Maine

Secretary
Dr. Bryan Pearce, Orono, Maine

Members

William Anderson, Lubec, Maine
James Acheson, Orono, Maine
Robert Bayer, Orono, Maine
Will Bland, Newington, N.H.
John Boland, St. John's, Newfoundland
Robert Brown, Edgecomb, Maine
David Cousens, S.Thomaston, Maine
Ron Cronk, Grand Manan, New Brunswick
Pete Daley, Hancock, Maine
Donavon Frye, Deer Island, New Brunswick
John German, Brookhaven, NY
Al King, Gloucester, Mass.
Jay Krouse, W. Boothbay Harbor, Maine
Victor Lovitt, Bedford, Nova Scotia
John Merrill, III, Islesford, Maine
John Reeves, Bar Harbor, Maine
Dana Rice, Birch Harbor, Maine
Greg Roach, Halifax, Nova Scotia
Klaus Sonnenberg, Grand Harbour, New Brunswick

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LOBSTER CONGRESS GOES 'DOWN UNDER'

The third International Lobster Congress will take place in 1999, in Australia. Sponsored by the Australian lobster industry, the conference will bring together industry representatives from around the world.

The conference will focus on effective management and resource sharing techniques, as well as evolving initiatives in industry development.

Conference presentations will include:

  • lobster aquaculture and value-added technology
  • resource access sharing and certainty
  • the costs of management
  • leading by example
  • industry success stories and information exchange

An accompanying exhibition will showcase:

  • science Fest. - information systems and science
  • world-wide poster display on lobster fisheries
  • a possible technology trade show
  • lobster boats of the world
  • the FAO International Conference on Property Rights in November 1999

Unlike many conferences, the Australians are promoting theirs as an active gathering. Sitting and listening time will be reduced in favor of practical and fishery-oriented activities and events. Invited speakers will be those who are making progress developing industry access rights and lobstering technology.

Once in Australia, conference participants can take side trips to various locations. Some options include the Australian Rules Football Grand Final in Melbourne, the West Australian lobster fishery, or the Great Barrier Reef. The South Australian lobster fishery is country's largest; conference participants may be able to go out on trips with lobster fishermen from that region

For further information, contact Bob Bayer, The Lobster Institute, 207-581-2785.

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Friends of the Lobster Institute

You eat lobsters. You catch lobsters. You may even have a lobster trap coffee table. How would you like to be a Friend of the Lobster Institute?

In 1996, the Lobster Institute Fund was established within the University of Maine Foundation. The Fund will provide consistent support to the Institute as it responds to the needs of the North Atlantic lobster industry.

The object of the Friends program, according to Will Bland, operations manager of Little Bay Lobster Company in New Hampshire and Institute board member, is to draw upon the large number of people who are interested in lobstering as a way of life, though they themselves are not actively involved. "In essence we're saying if you want to continue to see that lobsterman out there hauling traps, help us do the research and work to promote that," says Bland.

Donations to the Lobster Institute Fund will support the Institute's ongoing research on lobster health, hatchery technology, and product development, among others. The Lobster Institute Library, available to the public, offers nearly 400 journal articles and research reports about lobsters. "We plan to have a lobster bake this summer, probably up around Hancock," says Bland. "Get everyone interested together and talk lobster." To become a Friend, call the Lobster Institute, 207-581-1443.

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Lobster Health Update

Late last year, lobstermen all along the Maine coast found themselves looking at a lot of dead lobsters. Some pounds reported more than ten percent of their stock dying. In fact, twelve-pound operators were forced to completely empty their enclosures and restock with new lobsters. Lobstermen pulling traps found them full of dead or dying lobsters.

At the request of the alarmed lobstermen and pound owners, the University of Maine undertook a study to determine what killed the animals.

Five lobster pounds in Maine and New Brunswick were sampled bimonthly in November, 1997, and then monthly through March, 1998. Each time, 100 lobsters were removed from each pound and a single blood sample taken. The pound's seawater was also sampled. Scientists looked at the blood samples for certain types of bacteria. The seawater samples were cultured to find out how many bacteria were present in the water and their types.

Many lobsters had infections, 13 percent over the course of the winter season. In some pounds, up to 22 percent of the lobsters were infected. The bacteria that caused the lobsters to become ill were identified as Vibrio, Aeromonas, and Pseudomonas.

Bacterial infections occurred most frequently in the late fall, declined during the winter, and then appeared to be rising in March.

To determine whether these infections only occurred among pound lobsters, scientists sampled boats fishing in the Isle au Haut area. Of the 150 lobsters tested, harmful bacteria were found in 12 percent of the total number. The bacteria were similar in species to those found in the pounds.

NOW WHAT? WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? WHAT ACTION IS BEING TAKEN?

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Lobster Scrubber Caught

Tests developed in Massachusetts and at the University of Maine were key to nabbing a lobsterman who scrubbed his female lobsters.

Maine marine patrol officers got word that a Downeast lobsterman was landing a very high number of female lobsters. A routine check of the man's catch uncovered a limp female with a few eggs remaining on her abdomen. The lboster was brought to the University of Maine where Bob Bayer, director of the Lobster Institute, conducted two tests to determine if she had been scrubbed.

The first test was created by researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the Massachusetts State Lobster Hatchery, and Bio-Concepts Laboratory, a private firm in New Hampshire. The lobster is dipped in a chemical and the natural "glue" which holds the eggs onto the body, turns purple, indicating that the animal very recently had attached eggs.

The second test examines hairs on the swimmeret legs to see if they have been exposed to bleach. Under a microscope, Bayer found that the hairs were damaged and concluded that bleach had been used on this lobster. An additional test would have been to see if the hairs reacted to another chemical by turning yellow, also indicating that bleach was present.

When shown this evidence by the marine patrol, the lobstermen admitted to scrubbing female lobsters. Penalties for scrubbing range from fines to suspension of offender's license, to permanent revoking of the license. According to Ross Lane, a National Marine Fisheries Service enforcement agent involved in this incident, "the chemical tests are easy, straightforward tests to use in the field. I keep the chemicals right in my car!"

A brief pamphlet, entitled "Techniques to Detect Chemically Scrubbed, Egg-bearing Lobsters -- A Guide for Law Enforcement Personnel", details the chemical and swimmeret tests, and is available from the Maine/New Hampshire Sea Grant office and the Lobster Institute.

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Pound Survey

During the spring of 1998, the Lobster Institute queried all pound owners in Maine, and many in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, concerning lobster shrinkage in their pounds. Shrinkage refers to the total loss of weight among pound-kept lobsters, either due to mortality or to decreased body weight.

Pound owners were asked to give their shrinkage rate for the winter pounding season, and to note whether the rate was increased, decreased, or unchanged from the previous winter. They were also asked whether they used aeration and medicated feed in their pounds.

Of the 35-pound operators who responded, the average rate of shrinkage was approximately 12 percent. More than half of the operators reported an increase in the rate from the previous year. Twenty percent reported no change; 23 percent reported a decrease in shrinkage.

Researchers looked at the shrink rate by region and by the pound operators' use of aeration and medicated feed. No clear relationship appeared. The survey results suggest that gaffkemia (red tail disease) is not the cause of shrinkage and that current management techniques for pound-kept lobsters need improvement.

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Results of 1997 V-Notch Study

In October of 1997, Maine Lobstermen's Association members received postcards from the Lobster Institute seeking their participation in the V-notch study. This annual study provides a statistical sample of the number of V-notched female lobsters found in Maine traps.

Lobstermen were asked to supply basic information about their catch, specifically: number of V-notched lobsters; the number of V-notched lobsters with eggs; the number of lobsters with eggs which were not V-notched; the number of traps hauled; and total pounds landed.

For 1997, lobstermen reported 8,322 V-notched lobsters in their traps, of which 2,253 were egg bearing. This means that 62 percent of the egged lobsters were V-notched. Because the Maine Lobstermen's Association is primarily a southern to mid-coast Maine organization, this sample does not reflect the entire coast.


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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