Lobster Bulletin

    In This Edition

  1. The Stretch Test or Keeping Claws Closed

  2. Pound Owners to Hold First Workshop

  3. Massachusetts Lobstermen's Association: Welcome Aboard!

  4. Lobster Conference Funded

  5. Lobstermen Cooperate in Research Project

  6. An Open Letter of Thanks

  7. Choose Another Bulletin
The Stretch Test or Keeping Claws Closed

Recently, tests were initiated to determine the differences in quality between lobster claw bands from seven different manufacturers. University of Maine Professor John Riley of the Agricultural Engineering Department says that preliminary stretch tests have been conducted in the laboratory to test the elasticity of each band.

The second stage of the project involved attaching the bands to lengths of PVC pipe with a standard banding instrument. The pipes were tied together on a line and are currently hanging off the pier in Southwest Harbor. Once a month, the pipes will be pulled from the water for a test sample. The sampling will continue through April of 1988.

When the data is analyzed, Riley hopes to determine if quality differences exist between various manufacturers and also between different batches from the same manufacturer. Specifically, he will be checking to see if band deterioration is time-dependent and also if it relates to water temperature change.

This is the first of the quick-response problem-solving projects that has been suggested by the Maine Lobster Institute. The work is being funded by the Maine Agricultural Experiment Station through the Fisheries and Aquaculture Research Group.

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Pound Owners to Hold First Workshop

Plans are underway to develop a workshop to be held in the near future which will focus on topics in lobster pound management. There is a possibility that two similar workshops will be conducted, one in eastern Maine and the other at a western coastal location, so that more people may be able to attend.

According to Herb Hodgkins, President of the Maine Lobster Pound Association, the one-day workshops will be open to anyone in the lobster industry and should be especially useful to pound owners. The focus will be on disease control and nutrition management.

The proposed conferences will be sponsored by the Maine Lobster Institute and the Maine Lobster Pound Association.

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Massachusetts Lobstermen's Association: Welcome Aboard!

The Massachusetts Lobstermen's Association has recently joined the three Maine-based founders of the Maine Lobster Institute in their efforts to create a research and education program dedicated to ensuring the future of the lobster industry in the region.

Roy Tate, Executive Director of the Massachusetts group, presented a $5,000 check to the Board of Advisors in support of the MLI's regional research and education programs.

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Lobster Conference Funded

A grant of $3,000 has been awarded to the Maine Lobster Institute by the Northeast Marine Advisory Council to develop its first annual international conference for the lobster industry. The conference will be held in the spring of 1988 in a location most convenient to participants from the northeastern United States and the Canadian maritimes. The conference will include a wide range of topics of interest to everyone connected to the lobster industry, from harvester to retailer.

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Lobstermen Cooperate in Research Project

During the height of the 1987 lobstering season, about 50 lobstermen pulled their traps from the "Thread of Life" area at the mouth of the Damariscotta River for a six week period so that University of Maine researcher Bob Steneck could observe lobster behavior in a "trap-free zone." Now these data are being compared to that gathered from the same area since 1983 when traps were present.

These comparisons are part of a larger study designed to determine the impact of traps and dragging on the ecology of lobsters. The success of this summer's "trap-free zone" experiment, due to the cooperation of the lobstermen will have a strong positive influence on future funding of this research program.

As the accompanying charts indicate, after a lag, there was a drop in the abundance of lobsters in the study area throughout August; a drop not seen in August of previous years. Since there were no storms or dramatic decreases in water temperature during this time and lobsters returned after traps were replaced, Steneck believes that this exodus may be due, in part, to the removal of the traps and the loss of the lobster trap bait which normally comprises much of their diet.

The Maine Lobster Institute along with the University's Center for Marine Studies believes this research is vital enough to the industry that they have joined together in supporting Steneck's request for the purchase of a low intensity light camera to continue underwater observations. The camera will also be made available to others involved in lobster research.

In addition to this project, which is currently funded through the Sea Grant College Program, another proposal is being prepared by Steneck concerning lobster habitat research for submission to the National Science Foundation. This new proposal was stimulated, in part, by the success of the current work.

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An Open Letter of Thanks

I want to thank the South Bristol and Pemaquid Fishermen's Cooperatives and other lobstermen working in the "Thread of Life" for cooperating with me on my research project by removing your traps from my study site.

To my knowledge, this is the first time an actively fished area has been voluntarily closed by the fishermen for scientific research. The research could not have been done without your help.

Although I have a considerable data to analyze and specimens to sort, the results are significant. It appears that traps do affect the lobster population in significant ways.

I would be happy to discuss this any with individual or group.


Sincerely,
Dr. Robert S. Steneck
Assistant Professor
Oceanography, Botany, and Marine Studies
University of Maine
Ira C. Darling Center
Walpole, Maine 04573

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The Lobster Bulletin is a periodic newsletter published by the Lobster Institute in cooperation with the Maine/New Hampshire Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program. We welcome your comments and suggestions. For more information please contact us at:
Lobster Institute
5715 Coburn Hall #22
University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469-5715
TEL (207) 581-1448. Editor: Susan White.



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