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Forecasting the lobster population years from now is about as difficult
as making weather predictions far into the future. Nevertheless, thatÕs just what a
team of researchers from throughout the region is attempting to do. With support from
the Maine/New Hampshire Sea Grant College Program, researchers will develop techniques
to predict lobster landings at coastal sites in Long Island Sound, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Maine.
Although lobster harvests have been at all-time highs in recent years, fishery scientists
have warned that stocks are overfished and a collapse is possible. If lobster landings
can be predicted and techniques devleoped to help regulate the lobster industry, a stock
collapse could be averted. Information generated in this study could also help lobstermen
prepare for declines or increases in catch and possibly avoid hardships associated with an
unexpected crash.
According to Bob Steneck, lobster ecologist at the University of Maine's Darling Marine
Center and a member of the research team, the project will focus on the settlement of
inch-long planktonic lobsters that swim in coastal waters and eventually settle to the
sea floor. Steneck explains, "Early events that happen in the lives of many organisms seem
to be the most important thing in controlling the organism's abundance. We can't just look
at a single species and how many individuals there are or the number of egg-bearing females.
We have to seriously think about predator-prey relationships, habitat degradation, larval
survival, larval behavior, nursery grounds, and migration. This is where ecology and fishing come together."
Steneck is working in collaboration with Rick Wahle, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences;
Win Watson and Hunt Howell, University of New Hampshire; Stan Cobb, University of Rhode Island;
and Mike Fogarty, National Marine Fisheries Service.
As a graduate student of Steneck's in the mid-1980s, Wahle developed new techniques to
count the number of larval lobsters settling to the sea floor.
According to Wahle, "What evolved from a trial-and-error attempt to understand the missing
link in the life cycle of lobsters eventually turned into this project." That missing link-what
factors determine how many lobsters settle to the bottom and grow- is critical in understanding
the relationship between the free floating larvae and the bottom-dwelling creature that ends up
in traps and eventually on our dinner plates.
Through their research in the last ten years, Wahle, Steneck and others found that selected rocky
areas in near-coastal waters are critical for the settlement process.ppears that only about 10%Ð 12%
of the Maine coast is suitable for lobster settlement. Researchers also discovered that the number of
young lobsters in any one area does not appear to change much from year to year, although differences
among areas can be large. There is also evidence that summer water temperatures and wind patterns may
greatly influence settlement.
Over the next three years, the research team will track landings and monitor environmental conditions
such as temperature and food availability. They will also use Wahle's sampling techniques to estimate
the numbers of lobsters settling to the sea floor. These numbers will be compared to the number of lobsters
that settle into artificial collectors that Steneck recently developed. Consisting of a lattice-work of PVC
plastic pipes and artificial turf, the collector mimics the rocky environment that juvenile lobsters seem to
prefer. Studies have shown that the artificial bottom collects lobsters as well as the natural environment and
the collectors can be brought up so juveniles can be counted. Using the collectors, researchers will estimate the
abundance of pre-recruit (sub-legal size) lobsters. They will then develop and test modified lobster traps with no
escape vents to determine if the number of pre-recruits (as well as newly-settled lobsters) corresponds to catch.
Members of the lobster industry are invaluable partners inthis research project by helping researchers with the
experimental logbook and sea sampling programs. Particpating lobstermen are keeping logbooks in which they record how
many sub-legal and legal size lobsters they catch in their traps. In sea sampling, they measure lobsters in their traps,
determine the sex, and record whether they are V-notched, berried, hard or soft shell. This information is vital in
developing techniques to predict lobster landings.
According to Pat White, executive director of the Maine Lobstermen's Association, the project brings scientists and fishermen
together to the benefit of both. Information on future lobster stocks generated by this research could eventually help scientists,
regulators, and the industry reach agreement on how to manage today's resources. As White states, "It's very hard to implement any rules
that don't have the support of the fishermen."
To The North Atlantic Lobster Industry
In 1972, when I arrived at the University of Maine as Assistant Professor of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, if anyone
had told me that someday there would be a Lobster Institute and that I would be its director...well, here I am.
The lobster industry family-from trap builders to harvesters, pound owners and dealersÑis very important to me.
I feel privileged to be a part of this industry and to be entrusted with the position of Executive Director of the Lobster Institute.
While leading the Institute, I will continue to carry out lobster research, when there are problems and areas where I can make a
contribution. Although I have teaching obligations and need to spend time with my students, I will make every effort to keep abreast of
industry needs and issues of importance.
There are many issues that need to be dealt with in the future: management schemes on
both sides of the border; the conservation and health of our lobster; and keeping the
best possible product in the international marketplaceÑjust for starters.
The Institute will continue to support and participate in the Maine Fishermen's Forum,
the Massachusetts Lobstermen's Association Annual Convention, Lobster Dealer/Pound Operator
Workshops, many of the Canadian lobster workshops, and other seminars as the need arises.
In an effort to keep the industry abreast of current lobster research and other relevant topics,
we will continue to publish the Lobster Bulletin, instructional manuals, and fact sheets.
We are encouraged by and proud of the positive response we have received in our fundraising
efforts and the strong support shown by our Canadian partners. In the near future,
the Institute hopes to have an endowment large enough to establish a lobster research
fellowship for graduate students or faculty.
Dave Dow and the original Board of Advisors did a terrific job of bringing the Institute
to where it is today. All of us on the Board were, and still are, working towards a common goal.
We can keep our industry healthy and make it stronger, but only with your help. As Ed
Blackmore, Chair of the Board of Advisors, often says, "We're all in this together."
V-Notching:
V-notching lobsters in Maine is not a new practice. Beginning in 1917, only the
commissioner of the Maine Department of Sea and Shore Fisheries (changed in 1973
to the Department of Marine Resources or DMR) could hole-punch the tails of egg-bearing
lobsters that were purchased for that purpose. Although DMR still buys some female
lobsters to V-notch and release, much of the conservation effort today is carried out by
lobstermen. Since the 1970s, many Maine lobstermen have voluntarily participated in a
V-notching program whereby they mark the tails of berried lobsters and return them to
the sea. In order to protect these lobsters with proven reproductive capability, there
was a regulation passed in 1948 that made it illegal to land a V-notched lobster in
Maine. There is also a federal regulation, that came into effect in the mid-1980s,
that prohibits fishermen from landing any V-notched lobster in federal waters.
In Ireland, lobster fishermen became concerned about the decline in lobster stocks
and the ultimate future of their industry. After a conference in Galway in 1993 where
David Dow, former director of the Lobster Institute, and a team of University researchers
discussed conservation measures practiced in Maine, Irish fishermen visited the state in
the summer of 1994 to see for themselves. All of this exchange culminated in a V-notch
order in October 1994 which states that "it is illegal to land, sell, or be in possession
of any lobster which is marked with a "V" piece cut out of its tail."
In the Western Isles of Scotland, catches have dropped 40% in the past 10 years since boats
started taking lobstersÑwhich could be the brood stockÑ from deeper water. Consequently,
a V-notched proposal has been submitted as part of the country's "EU Pesca programme."
With this program, about 10,000 notched females will be released in the sea over the next
five years. Duncan MacInnes, secretary of the Western Isles Fisherme'Õs Association says,
"We will be asking the fisheries ministry to make this scheme a condition of the
shellfish license it is proposing and the industry has agreed on how it will work."
Along the west coast of Newfoundland, which historically supplies 50% of the province's
catch, lobster landings have declined in the last three years. One explanation given is
increased exploitation in the lobster fishery due to declines in groundfish. However,
lobster recruitment could also be limited by the low level of egg production. According
to an article written by Gerry Ennis in the FRC Lobster Report published in St. John's,
Newfoundland, lobster egg production in this province could be low due to a legal size
limit that is too small (females reach sexual maturity below the limit) and very high
exploitation rates. Since increasing the size limit and reducing the exploitation rate
would seriously reduce landings, fishermen are now considering implementing a voluntary
V-notching program similar to the one in Maine. As Ennis states, "It is unlikely that the
level of egg production would be raised sufficiently (through V-notching) to eliminate
the risk of recruitment failure but it could be a significant contribution towards
reducing that risk."
Maine Keeps Track of V-Notched Lobsters
Since 1982, the Maine Lobstermen's Association (MLA) has conducted a V-notch survey to
measure the impact of this conservation program. Each year, post cards are sent to MLA
members requesting information about their catch. The survey includes questions about the
number of V-notched lobsters, the number of V-notched lobsters that had eggs, the number
of egged lobsters without a V-notch, the number of traps hauled, and total pounds landed.
The results have been remarkably consistent from year to year.
This year, over 100 lobstermen responded to the survey. After the results were tabulated at
the beginning of November, the survey showed that over 60% of egg-bearing females had a
V-notch. Although Maine lobstermen voluntarily participate in this program, many are active
ly involved in it and the consistent survey results through the years suggest that's it's
working.
Editor's note: The survey in1989 showed that 65,377 traps were hauled resulting in
52,979 pounds of lobster and in 1995, only 41,360 traps yielded 64,292 pounds of lobster.
Now, Then, and Around The World