In This Edition - Fall 2000


Lobster Institute Sets Project Goals --part 2 of a 3 part series.

 

Part 1 of this series in the Summer 2000 edition of the Lobster Bulletin, outlined three of the project goals of the Lobster Institute:

  • Evaluation of models and data collection for stock status assessment and forecasting
  • Assessment of health of the lobster stock to determine the sources of mortality, and
  • Maintaining and enhancing the Lobster Institute website.

The following projects are also on the priority list

·         Developing and promoting value-added lobster products.  Among other items, a snack food and pastas made from seafood and lobster mince and a paste made from shells are being tested. These products represent an opportunity to create jobs and also enhance sales of lobster in various forms, adding value to the catch.    Funding for a graduate fellowship in marketing and a post-doctoral fellowship or visit faculty member is needed.   

·         Continuing the monitoring of environmental toxins in our lobster stock.  In order to ensure a healthy lobster population, we must remain alert to any toxins, which threaten the stock.  In order to do this, a liquid chromatograph that interfaces with a mass spectrometer is needed. This instrument will also help in artificial bait development.  Lobster bait is a critical problem because of irregular availability.

·         Collaboration on an oral history project.  We are beginning an oral history project, working with the Maine Folklife Center.  This involves interviewing older fishermen and fishing community members.  A digital, production quality camera is being used.  A laptop and software are still needed to facilitate this project.

           “The Lobster Institute’s research and education goals are related to lobster and lobstering, and preserving the way of life that revolves around them,” says Cathy Billings, the Institute’s Assistant Director for Communications & Development.  “To do this we need help from all sectors– both industry and community friends.  Financial support is definitely important. We also need fishermen volunteers to assist us in our research, and folks involved in all aspects of the fishery to keep us informed of any problems, challenges or changes they see in the industry.”  For more information contact Dr. Bob Bayer  or Cathy Billings at 207-581-2751 or email cathy.billings@umit.maine.edu.

Back to Beginning

Correction:

RE: the article “Maine Proposes Rule to Limit Entry to Lobster Management Zones” in the Summer 2000 issue of the Lobster Bulletin, Laura Taylor of the Department of Marine Resources writes us that the Department did not propose limited entry to new lobster fishermen,  “Rather, the Lobster Advisory Council proposed limited-entry in the lobster fishery in 1999 and the 119th Legislature, under LD 1992, passed a limited-entry law.” The proposed regulations were implementing this law for Zones D, E, F and G.  Further, Taylor writes that the Department did not propose setting a maximum number of days at sea, or minimum/maximum number of traps.

Back to Beginning

Memo

TO:

  Lobster Industry Members

FROM:       

  Bob Bayer, Executive Director

  Lobster Institute

 

At a recent meeting of the Lobster Institute Board of Advisors, we discussed how best to keep track of lobster health problems before they're out of control.  With early warning, some environmentally based problems may be "headed off" or at least the cause of a health problem monitored. 

The Lobster Institute is willing to act as a monitoring point for problems in the fishery or in the market. If you observe problems with lobsters that don't appear right to you, i.e., showing strange behavior, showing signs of environmental contamination, or shell disease, please notify the Lobster Institute immediately so we can try to track down the source of the problem.         Call 207-581-1443 or email rbayer@maine.edu 

Back to Beginning

   Research                   Report

Readers may contact the Lobster Institute for more detailed information on any of the projects reported.

v      Blood Serum Testing Conducted to Find Lobster Stress Indicators – Dr. Deanna Prince, a Research Associate at the University of Maine working with the Lobster Institute, and student researcher Christina Congleton conducted preliminary research over the summer on the blood serum of lobsters in an attempt to identify stress indicators.  Glucose and PH levels seem to have produced the most relevant findings to-date.  Tests show blood sugar elevates with stress and declines over time with the removal of stress.  The types of stress applied were time out of the water and elevated water temperature.  Pesticide and disease stress may be tested in the future.  Also planned is a look at winter sampling as well as a focus on lobsters at similar growth stages.    Two undergraduate students are now working on the use of hand-held glucose monitors, similar to those used by diabetics, to conduct the sampling.

The Institute is also looking into expanding the research, in conjunction with  the University’s Electrical Engineering department, to develop biosensor technology to both identify and verify stress indicators. Currently a blood analyzer, which is a relatively large $10,000 piece of equipment, is used to examine blood samples.  It is hoped the biosensor research will  produce less expensive, portable analytical instruments.  Sensors would also b e less intrusive as blood would not have to be drawn to do the readings.

v      Lobster Institute Receives Grant to Conduct Shell Disease Research in Long Island Sound – Dr. Deanna Prince has received $30,000 from the Luce Foundation to fund a survey and research on lobster shell disease in Long Island Sound. Prince is looking at the degree of manifestation and specific locations being affected.   She will also try to determine the nature of the disease i.e. what are the specific microorganisms involved (bacterial, viral, etc,).  With further funding, tests for various types of toxic compounds will also be conducted.

  The shell disease exhibits itself as soft, brown spots over a widespread area of the lobster.  It begins behind the eyes in the area over the stomach.  It extends over the body and finally reaches into the claws.  Diseased lobsters have been tagged and re-caught, showing the infection’s progressive nature.

v      Artificial Bait Studies in Progress – Tracy Nason Vassiliev, a graduate student in Biosystems Science and Engineering at the University of Maine, has been conducting research on artificial lobster bait.  If developed successfully, this bait could provide a relatively inexpensive product (compared to current commercial products) that takes a limited amount of storage space, is re-usable, and could supplement herring. During the first phase of testing a polymer along with an attractant derived from clams, herring, crab, shrimp, fish, and horseshoe crabs was used. 

 

                                        Herb Hodgkins of Hancock helps test artificial bait.

Initial tests show the bait does work. Further tests are needed to study the lifespan of the bait and the time of activation.    A chicken by-product meal infused on the polymer is also being tested.

v      Grant Received to Help Continue Research on Bacterial Menace in Lobster Pounds – The Lobster Institute has received a $1,000 grant from the Farm Credit AgEnhancement Program to assist in completing studies on medication to combat a bacterial menace that appears to be putting lobster stock in pound storage at risk.  Approximately $3,500 in additional funding is still needed. Studies show that oxytetracycline, currently used for the treatment of gaffkemia at a dose of 2.2 mg per gram of feed, is effective in the treatment of this new infection when administered at a dose of 10 mg per gram of feed.  The FDA must approve this new dose. They require more extensive environmental impact studies before they issue a ruling.  These studies will be re-activated in the spring of 2001.

Back to Beginning

Ventless Traps Being Used to Assess Lobster Stock

      Carin Poeschel, a graduate student in Marine Bio-Resources at the University of Maine, has been conducting lobster stock assessment research in the Gulf of Maine using a specially crafted “ventless” trap.  Fishermen Eric Anderson, Herb Hodgkins, Newell McClain, Norman Nunan, Matt Waddle, and Jack Young have been assisting Poeschel in collecting data from the modified trap, which has a decreased entry head with a 48mm diameter, shrimp mesh, and blocked-off vents.

“The ventless traps allow us to capture lobsters at various stages of development and collect data that will allow us to better understand the population structure and size distribution in the Gulf, particularly along the coast of Maine” says Poeschel.

Initial data being collected includes information on: location of catch, sex, v-notched and egg bearing females, and carapace length.

      The traps were modified and distributed to participants in August 2000. Data will continue to be collected by a few participants until they begin to see a shift in the movement on lobsters.  The initial survey will continue until December 2000, which is when most of the fishermen will have pulled their traps from inshore areas.  Some will continue in the offshore.  No set ending date has been established.  For those who have finished collecting data this fall, the program will begin again in the spring of 2001.

            Poeschel is working under a grant from Maine’s Department of Marine Resources’ Marine Studies Fellowship Program, with a match from Thistle Marine, Inc. of Lamoine, Maine.  Poeschel hopes to integrate Thistle Marine’s new HMS-410 electronic logbooks, developed by Richard Arnold, into the data collection process next season.

Back to Beginning

Go to Bulletin Menu