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New Extruder Installed at the University of Maine
With
help from a Maine Science &
Technology grant
of $100,500, Drs. Mary Ellen Camire, Denise
Skonberg and Al Bushway from the UM Department of
Food Science & Human Nutrition, Dr. Linda Kling of the UM School of
Marine Sciences and Dr. Bob Bayer of the Lobster
Lobster
Institute Board of Advisors Adopts Revised Vision and Mission Statements
The new mission statement reads, “The Lobster Institute, with guidance from all constituents within the lobster industry, conducts and provides for research and educational outreach focused on protecting, conserving, and enhancing lobsters and lobstering as an industry…and as a way of life.” z
Lobster
Institute Continues Research Relationship with
Purdue University
With soy-based lobster bait studies being conducted at its field station
at Tidal Falls and at the University of Maine, the Lobster Institute is
continuing a successful collaboration begun with Purdue University in 1996.
At that time, a Lobster Research Fellowship was created, linking the two
organizations, with the overall objective of solving problems facing the
developing lobster aquaculture industry.
Initial studies in the late 90s focused
on evaluating the use of new feed formulations for pounded and larval stage
lobsters using the soybean as a primary ingredient.
Lobster
Institute Thanks its Board of Advisors
The Institute recognizes and thanks the members of its Board of Advisors for volunteering to guide the Institute in the coming program year. This group also serves as the Board of Directors for the Friends of the Lobster Institute.
William Adler, Executive Director Massachusetts Lobstermen’s
Association
Scituate, MA
Herbert Hodgkins, Executive Secretary - Maine Lobster Pound
Association & Lobster Products
Hancock, ME
Secretary/Clerk
Jean Day -- Lobster Institute
Advisors
William Anderson
Lubec, ME
David Bengis/Tim Harkins
Portland, ME
Will Bland
Newington, NH
Vance Blushke
Birch Harbor, ME
John Boland - Fishermen’s Food & Allied Workers
St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada
Robert Brown, President
Edgecomb, ME
Frank Crohn
Perry, ME & Rhineback, NY
David Cousens
So. Thomaston,
Nick Crismoli, President
Guilford, CT
Ron Cronk
Grand Manan, NB, Canada
James Eaton
Stongington, ME
John German
Brookhaven, NY
Bernie LeBlanc
Shediac, NB, Canada
Leo LaRosa
Lynn, MA
Victor Lovett
Bedford, NS, Canada
Jack Merrill -
Maine Lobstermen’s
NE Harbor &
Scott Moxham
Kennebunk, ME
Dr. Bryan Pearce
The University of Maine
Dr. Deanna Prince
The University of Maine
John Reeves, Director
Bar Harbor, ME
Dana Rice
Birch Harbor, ME
Greg Roach
Halifax, NS, Canada
Klaus/Melanie Sonnenberg
Grand Manan, Canada
Carl Wilson
W. Boothbay Harbor, ME
z
Readers may contact the Lobster Institute for more
detailed information on any of the projects reported.
v
Use of
Crustacean Processing By-Products in a Seafood Pasta
–
The Lobster Institute has been collaborating with the University of Maine
Department of Food Science & Human Nutrition and Cranberry Point Products
from Gouldsboro, Maine on preliminary development of a fresh pasta product,
using a mince mechanically separated from crustacean processing by-products as a
primary ingredient. Work has progressed with the help of a
Seed Grant from the Maine Technology Institute and matching funds from
the University of Maine Department of Industrial Cooperation.
In initial studies, rock crab processing by-products (crab legs and
bodies from which the meat cannot easily be removed for marketing) were used to
produce the mince used in a fettuccine-style noodle.
This prototype received acceptable scores for taste and appearance
Currently,
in Maine alone, it is estimated that nearly 15 million pounds of crustacean
post-processing waste is produced each year.
Most processors pay to have this “waste” hauled away.
It is hoped that finding suitable uses for what seafood processing
businesses are currently discarding will enhance the profitability of the
industry and provide
In
related research, the Lobster Institute and University of Maine scientists are
also exploring the possibility of using processing by-products in a healthful,
extruded snack food product.
v
Pier
Wrapping To Guard Against Shipworm – University of Maine engineers are at work on a new composites technology
that may protect piers in coastal waters from shipworm attack. The research has
attracted a $110,577 two-year grant from the Maine Sea Grant Program and
participation from the Kenway Corporation, a composites manufacturing company in
Augusta, Maine. “Our experimental
approach is to create a shield that is reinforced with fiberglass fabric in a
polymer that is durable in the marine environment,” says Roberto Lopez-Anido,
assistant professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and
a member of the Advanced Engineered Wood Composites Center (AEWC).
In laboratory tests at AEWC, the new material was exposed to seawater,
weather extremes and mechanical stresses. “We're going to call the material an
FRP (fiber-reinforced polymer) Shield. It will provide strength to the wood pile and
protection from marine borers such as shipworms.”
v
Researchers
Work to Isolate Pathogen Responsible for Limp Lobster Disease –
Scientists from the FDA and the Lobster Institute are reporting that evidence is
accumulating that indicates Vibrio fluvialis is the etiological agent
responsible for Limp Lobster Disease in Homarus americanus (American
lobster). Led by principal
investigator Dr. Ben Tall, the research team’s findings were presented at the
26th Annual Eastern Fish Health Workshop, held in West Virginia in
April of this year. Symptoms of Limp Lobster Disease include weakness, lethargy,
and slow or ineffectual responses to sensory stimuli.
A copy of the abstract on this study, entitled “Vibrio fluvialis,
An Emerging Pathogen Responsible For Limp Lobster Disease In The American
Lobster”, and abstracts on other topics presented at the workshop can be found
on the Internet at
z
The following is an excerpt taken from a tongue-in-cheek article by Christopher Buckley in Forbes magazine (date unknown) entitled “The Origin and Development of the Lobster Bib”.
Buckley notes the first record of the lobster bib as “AD20 – Pristinus, tunic-maker to roman emperor Tiberius Caesar, is tasked with protecting the imperial purple robe from stains caused by seafood particles during the emperor’s prolonged feasts on the Isle of Capri. He devises a protective garment that he calls a ‘bibulus’, because it also protects Tiberius’ clothes from imperial drool caused by drunken gorging. The bibulous is embroidered with rubies in the form of a Mediterranean spiny lobster. Tiberius’ mother, Livia, comments in front of the entire court that the garment makes her son look like a Zoroastrian hermaphrodite. Tiberius makes Pristinus eat the bibulous and has him thrown off the cliff from the imperial villa. The incident has a chilling effect of further lobster bib R&D.” J
