In This Edition - Winter 2001

• Lobster Institute Hosts International Researchers 

• Lobster Institute Sets Project Goals (part 3 of 3)

• Letter to the Editor (re: Herring)

• Research Report

• Lobster Institute Begins Oral History Project with Grant from Maine Community Foundation

• Choose Another Bulletin

Lobster Institute Hosts International Researchers

   The Lobster Institute has a long history of working with international researchers. This fall and winter scientists from Australia, Spain, and Uruguay, and a writer from Germany all made the trek to the Institute’s offices to draw upon the knowledge of university researchers, lobstermen and other industry members.

   Dr. Richard Musgrove, a shellfish biologist from Australia, came in October. Dr. Musgrove works at the SA Aquatic Sciences Centre, a government research and development agency. His observations focused primarily on the areas of post-harvest handling, health assessment, and the Institute’s innovative use of the by-products of processing.  “It is useful to understand the way different systems operate,” said Musgrove. He noted that fisheries in Australia are “about as different as you can get” from lobstering in the U.S. (see comparisons below).  He hopes for future collaborations on new product development using by-catch, and science/industry exchanges.

Jacopo Aguzzi, from Rome, Italy, and currently studying for his Ph.D. at the Modern Science Institute of Barcelona, Spain, visited in October/November. His trip was sponsored by the Spanish Government’s Ministry of Research and Culture.  Agguzzi’s work has dealt with fishery management issues, primarily the monitoring of toxicology in ecosystems.  He was also interest in studies being conducted in the U.S. on stress indices in aquatic life.  He observed the glucose stress testing being conducted at the Lobster Institute and noted that in Spain studies have been conducted using a heart monitor attached to lobsters with super glue. Aguzzi is interested in working further with the Lobster Institute, which he says is “very well-known in Italy,” on stress protocol studies and importing technologies for the use of by-products.

   Matthias Brendel, a writer from Germany, visited the Institute in October to gather material for a book he is writing about lobsters and lobster cuisine.  It will be a decorative and informative “coffee table” book.  It was commissioned by a German publisher and will be printed in April 2001.        z

Back to Beginning

Lobster Institute Sets Project Goals

  --part 3 of a 3 part series.

      This is the final installment of a three-part series outlining project goals of the Lobster Institute.  Goals noted in previous issues of the Lobster Bulletin include

• 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,
• Maintaining and enhancing the Lobster Institute website,
• Developing value-added lobster products,
• Continuing the monitoring of environmental toxins , and      
• Collaboration on an oral history project

The following projects are also on the priority list:

• Site development for a fisherman’s research center at Bunker’s Harbor.  The goal of this center, which encompasses a tidal lobster pound, is to work on problems that relate to the fishery and its people.

• Involving the public schools in the study of lobster.  We hope to begin by involving high school students in data collection with workshops   for both teachers and students, with an eventual goal of developing a full curriculum around the study of lobsters and the lobster industry.

• Involving the public schools in the study of lobster.  Building an operating and research endowment.  This would allow the Institute the freedom and finances to respond immediately to challenges that occur, as they arise, without having to search for funding.  The focus would be on problems of primary concern as identified by fishermen and those within the industry.

Support from both industry and community friends of the Lobster Institute is crucial in achieving these goals.  For more information on Lobster Institute projects or ways you can contribute contact Dr. Bob Bayer or Cathy Billings at 207-581-2751 or email cathy.billings @umit.maine.edu.      

Back to Beginning

 

Letter to the Editor:

(Note: Letters to the editor do not necessarily reflect the views of the Lobster Institute.  We invite reader feedback.)

  Questions:

1.       What’s going on with herring in the Gulf of Maine?

2.       Are their migratory patterns changing and why?

3.       Is data used to calculate the catch quota accurate?

4.       How do the answers to these questions affect the lobster industry?

  There are some people who think the herring resource is healthy and can support the current fishing effort and more.  With all due respect, there is and should be a lot of skepticism!  Anybody will admit herring aren’t where they traditionally were.  It’s been years since any significant amount has been found in near-shore areas.  The data is interpreted to indicate an abundance of herring in the George’s Bank area.  The landings seem to suggest something else.  What is the percentage of error?

   We don’t know the reason or reasons for the decrease in spawning Downeast in Area A.  Do we need to find out why?  I think so...don’t you?  Ask yourself the bigger question.  What are the consequences if we don’t? We need the combined herring harvester’s quotas from area One A and One B (60,000 metric tons) and then some to supply the lobster and sardine industries.  New England definitely needs these three industries healthy and sustainable.  I’ve got a lot more questions and I’m sure you do to.  If you see somebody you think should know or is involved in the decision-making process, ASK.  There’s a lot at stake.

            Dana B. Rice, D.B. Fisheries – Birch Harbor, ME

Back to Beginning

 

Research Report

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

v      UMaine Students Experiment with Glucose Testing as Indicator of Stress Levels in Lobsters –



Martha Berry (l) and Katrina Roy (r), conducting glucose tests at Lobster Institute lab at UMaine.

Undergraduate students in Biosystems Science at  UMaine, working on their senior research projects under the direction of the Lobster Institute, are using hand-held glucose monitors, similar to those used by diabetics, to conduct blood glucose sampling as a possible means of determining stress levels in lobsters.  Initial tests indicate the use of the monitors to be effective, and also show an elevated blood glucose level may be a valid stress indicator.  

v      Lobstah Cam Is Now Back On-Line – Web surfers can once again view an actual working lobster trap on the Lobster Institute’s website at www.lobsterinstitute.org. The trap will be baited, hauled, and if you’re lucky, you may get to see the fisherman pull the days catch out of the parlor. According to Bill Batty of Midcoast Internet, which host the site,  “Last year’s model showed us that the concept worked. It works so well in fact the Lobster Cam is the second most visited midcoast.com web page, second only to our home page itself! The Lobster Cam has received almost a million hits!” The camera is linked all over the net--a quick search revealed links on pages across the U.S., and as far away as Australia.         

v      1999-2000 Maine Lobster Pound Survey Results Posted– Results of the most recent lobster pound survey conducted by Dr. Deanna Prince are posted on the Lobster Institute’s website at www.lobsterinstitute.org  (look under “Library”).

v      Reports Vary About Stock Assessment– Scientists have been struggling for years with the challenge of accurately assessing the lobster population. Recent reports vary and the challenge continues. 

   On the one hand, a team of scientists from the University of Maine and the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences has found early indications of a decline in the lobster population in the Gulf of Maine. “The abundance of juvenile lobsters in key lobster producing regions of mid-coast Maine appears to be declining,” say Robert Steneck of the UMaine School of Marine Sciences and Lew Incze and Richard Wahle of Bigelow. “We expect landings in those regions and possibly elsewhere to decline sometime during the next two to four years.”  Data suggest the change in abundance of pre-recruits in Penobscot Bay alone may be on the order of 40%.

   On the other hand, findings reported from Drs. Andrew Solow and Andrew Beet from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, together with Dr. Diane Cowan from the Lobster Conservancy (TLC), do not support a downward trend.  According to Cowan, “Plausible explanations for the differences between the data sets include when and where abundance was measured. Reports of declines in abundance of recently settled lobsters are based on an index developed through data gathered by researchers surveying in September of each year. In contrast, TLC scientists take monthly samples year round.  Although TLC data shows a strong seasonal cycle, the peak abundance of recently settled lobsters generally occurs in October, not September. Declines in September abundance may not mean that lobsters failed to settle in a given year.”  Solow, Beet and Cowan have been analyzing time series of abundance for lobster settlement and one-year-old lobsters during the seven-year time period from 1993-1999.  “Although there have been many peaks and troughs, we have not discerned an upward or downward monotonic trend,” said Cowan. z

 

Dr. Ben Tall of the FDA worked with 
the Lobster Institute this fall to conduct 
research on Vibrio fluvalis in lobsters

Back to Beginning

Lobster Institute Begins Oral History Project With a Grant from the Maine Community Foundation 



  Jean Symonds is interviewed by Bob Bayer for the Lobster Institute’s 
oral history project.  Symonds, from Corea, has been lobstering for 
over 30 years and still hauls 200 traps.

   The Lobster Institute is pleased to announce receipt of a $2,583 grant from the Maine Community Foundation to assist in the Institute’s oral history project, which is designed to record the stories and wisdom of some of Maine’s most veteran lobstermen and their families.  The project involves conducting both audio and video interviews.   The Lobster Institute will then work with the Maine Folklife Center at the University to edit and archive these stories.  Also planned is production of a broadcast quality video, with a version available via the Internet.

   “The goal of the project is to capture and retain the spirit of the people and families who have made lobstering in Maine a way of life through the generations,” said Dr. Bob Bayer, executive director of the Lobster Institute and coordinator of the project.  According to Bayer, “The people who work the coastal fisheries are, in essence, a community unto themselves. Recording the stories of our senior lobstermen and their families will strengthen and preserve a special piece of this unique Maine community’s culture and rich maritime tradition.” 

   With further funding, the Lobster Institute has a long-range goal of including this project as just one piece of full curriculum on the study of lobsters and the lobster industry that will be made available to Maine’s public schools. 

   For further information and ways to support the project, contact Cathy Billings at the Lobster Institute, 210 Rogers Hall, University of Maine, Orono, ME  04469 or at 581-2751.                                              z

Back to Beginning

Go to Bulletin Menu