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Watch me pull a lobster out of a pot!
It goes in a greenish-brown color and magically emerges a bright
orangey-red.
We’ve all marveled at our lobsters changing color
before our very eyes as they are cooked. That magic formula is really a touch of
chemistry and a dash of physics.
This past fall, the Lobster Institute was consulted by Charles Day as he
was preparing an article entitled, “Why Do Lobsters Change Color When
Cooked?”. In the article, Day
provides this scientific explanation for the color-changing phenomenon,
“Crustacyanin, the colorant in lobster shell, consists of pigment molecules
confined in a colorless multiprotein cage.
On heating, the proteins denature, releasing their grip on the pigment
molecules. Unshackled, the pigment
molecules promptly turn red.”
Day adds that discovering the structural basis of this
interaction has been aided by innovative crystallographic techniques recently
developed by a multi-institutional team from the United Kingdom.
“The team’s discovery, which accounts for most of the color change,
satisfies the curiosity of scientifically minded epicures, but it could also
have applications. Astaxanthin, the
pigment in lobster shell, is a powerful antioxidant.
As such, it could have potential benefits to human health.”
While the majority of live lobsters are of the
greenish-brown variety, a rare few are blue, yellow, white, or even
multi-colored. No matter what
color, all turn the same reddish hue when cooked, with the exception of the
white lobsters, which have no pigment.
The
Effects of Herring Bait on Diet Composition and Growth of the American Lobster
By Dr. Jonathan H.
Grabowski,
Lobster (Homarus americanus) landings in the past two
decades have been higher than traditionally thought to be sustainable in the
Gulf of Maine. Given the economic
value of the lobster fishery in Maine and the socioeconomic consequences of a
potential fishery collapse, determining the importance of herring bait to
lobster population dynamics is of critical importance.
To evaluate whether the annual subsidy of herring bait in the near shore
waters of Maine are contributing to lobster production, we compared stomach
contents and stable-isotope ratios in the tissues of lobsters from closed (Monhegan
Island) and open (Georges Islands) fishing areas off the coast of Maine in the
summer and fall of 2002. We also
quantified growth rates in both regions using mark-recapture experiments to
assess if the presence of herring bait in fished areas increases short-term
growth of lobsters.
Lobster
Trap Tag Caught
on the Web!
The
following query came to the Lobster Institute via our Web site from Jeremy
Dolby, Isle of Wight, England:
“This
is a long shot. I’m over on the south coast of the UK and have found an orange
tag washed up on my local beach. I
was wondering could it be possible that it has floated over here? Does it sound like a lobster tag? It is an orange grip tie plastic strip 7 inches long by
3/8ths wide with the following marking: CANADA LOB S-F 33/98 – 01775.”
After
a little sleuthing, and with help from our friends David Robichaud and Susan
Waddy from Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans we were able to provide
the following response:
Lobster
Institute Hosts ComSci Fellowship
The Lobster Institute recently hosted a group from the U.S.
Department of Commerce Science and Technology
Dr. Robert Bayer gives a tour of the wharf at D. B.
Rice Fisheries
to participants in the ComSci Fellowship Program.
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[Note:
Views expressed in letters to the editor do not
necessarily reflect the views of the Lobster Institute.
We welcome reader feedback.] I am very interested to read the debate in [previous]
editions of your newsletter regarding Quota Management of a lobster
fishery. The Southern Zone of
South Australia has been managed under a quota management for the last ten
years. We were the first
lobster fishery in Australia and possibly the world to use this type of
management. We had very
serious concerns about Total Allowable Catches and Individual Transferable
Quota Allocation. It has
turned out that all our fears and concerns were totally unfounded.
With the introduction of quota management no fishermen were forced
out of the fishery. No
fishermen were made uneconomic. To
the contrary all 182 license holders in the fishery were given a fair
share of the lobster stocks. More
importantly, lobsters were left in the ocean when the Total Allowable
Catch has been taken and fishing operation ceased for the season.
This, in my view, has been the prime reason why lobster numbers
have dramatically increased over the last ten years. The quota management system used in our fishery is a
mixture of quota and input controls.
We still maintain seasonal closures and pot numbers per license
(minimum of 40 traps, to a maximum of 100) plus size limits and total
prohibition on the taking of berried lobsters.
We have been told that retaining the input controls is not very
smart but our results prove otherwise. The Northern Zone of the South Australian lobster
fishery has been operating on a total input control system and has
experienced a substantial downturn over the last few years. They have not decided to go to a quota management system.
Victoria and Tasmania have also followed down the quota management
path. This is a very brief outline of our lobster fishery.
I hope you find something that may be of interest. Lionel
Carrison, Australia |
Readers may contact the Lobster Institute for more
detailed information on any of the projects reported.
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Testing of Patented Process Adapted for Infusing Flavors Into Lobster
and Crab --
Saltwater Marketing, LLC of Falmouth, Maine has received a Maine Technology Seed
Grant to work with the Lobster Institute and the UMaine Department of Food
Science and Human Nutrition on prototypes of flavor infused lobster. A variety
of formulations and flavors such as lemon-butter, garlic, horseradish, etc. will
be tested. Initial sensory testing
will also be conducted to determine taste and appeal. Lobsters will be supplied
by D.B. Rice Fisheries of Bunker’s Harbor, and Hancock Gourmet Lobster Co. of
Cundy’s Harbor will provide test kitchen facilities.
The patented process to be adapted is a technique that has previously proven successful in lab tests of preservation applications for frozen lobster and crab. Laboratory and sensory tests on this technique were conducted by Dr. Beth Calder, a Cooperating Researcher at the Lobster Institute.
The seafood preservation application is
currently being tested on the production line of a lobster processing plant in
Canada. Saltwater Marketing, LLC
has obtained a licensing agreement from the University of Maine and the Lobster
Institute to market and/or sub-license this technique.
For more information, contact Saltwater Marketing, LLC at 207-878-9825.
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Alternative
Lobster Bait Research Continues --
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Lobster
Institute Initiates Research on Improving the Quality and Survival of Live
Shipped Lobsters -- Drs. Robert Bayer and Beth Calder of the Lobster
Institute have partnered with Sunshine Seafood, Inc. of Stonington, Maine to
test a new method of improving the quality of live shipped lobsters and the
duration of survival of lobsters when held out of water.
The Maine Technology Institute, Maine Sea Grant, and private sources have
provided funding for these tests. The
studies involve immersing lobsters in a specially formulated solution. These
lobsters are then packaged, held at <40 Degrees F, and observed to determine
if treated lobsters survive longer than controls.
Serum protein will be analyzed following immersion and periodically
throughout the observation period. *
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Workshop Held to Discuss Potential Impacts of a Proposed Sub-sea
Pipeline on Lobster Movement and Behavior -- Dr. Robert Bayer, Executive Director of the
Lobster Institute, took part in discussions on the possible impacts on lobsters
from the Blue Atlantic Pipeline Project being proposed by El Paso Eastern
Pipeline and Blue Atlantic Transmission Systems (BATS) that were held in Rhode
Island June 23-25. Lobster industry
representatives and researchers from New England and Nova Scotia participated in
the meeting, hosted by BATS. The project plan is to construct a sub-sea pipeline
from offshore Nova Scotia to markets in the New York area with a gas plant built
near Shelburne. The project is
currently on hold pending further market assessment.
Pipeline
properties discussed included size (48”diameter), temperature, emissions of
noise and vibrations, electro-magnetic fields, and buried versus unburied
sections of pipe. Possible habitat
impacts and related mitigating steps covered included: noise/vibration, sediment
and turbidity effects, and barriers to migration patterns (with possible
side-effects on lobster distribution and reproduction). Also discussed was the
dearth of research on the impact of gas and oil pipelines on lobster behavior.
Lobster
Management Subject of New Book by James Acheson
Jim
Acheson, author of the classic book, The Lobster Gangs of Maine (1988,
University of New England Press) and member of the Lobster Institute Board of
Advisors, has recently turned his analysis of the lobster industry to the
practice and theory of natural resource management.
His new book, Capturing the Commons: Devising Institutions to Manage
the Maine Lobster Industry (also available from University of New England
Press at www.upne.org)
focuses on an analysis of the zone councils as the latest step in more than a
century of harvest management efforts.
Acheson’s research centered on meetings of regional lobster management zone councils as well as state and federal fishery agencies. The result is a look at the politics of Maine’s most famous crustacean.
“Those concerned with the lobster fishery have worked hard to maintain the fishery for themselves and future generations,” Acheson writes in his introduction. “To this end they have developed several different kinds of rules to limit access to the resource and to control the fishery, a common-pool resource. They are truly ‘capturing the commons.’” z
