NOTE DiNardo et al Estimates of lobster mortality in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands 



131 



treatment replicates. Randomization resampling was used 

 to evaluate estimates of handling mortality. Approximate 

 lower and upper QS'/f confidence limits for handling mor- 

 tality were computed as the 2.5'7f and 97 .59i percentiles 

 of the bootstrap distributions by using the computer pro- 

 gram RT (Manly, 1994). 



Results 



Spiny lobster 



Spiny lobster sample sizes by discard category were suble- 

 gal («=84-88) and berried (n = l2-16) (Table 1 ). All spiny lob- 

 sters subjected to the .3-h wet treatment were active at the 

 conclusion of the 2-d baitwell holding period. For dry treat- 

 ments, the number of active spiny lobsters decreased with 

 increasing exposure time, whereas the number of dead lob- 

 sters increased with increasing exposure time. All control 

 lobsters were active, indicating no baitwell holding effects. 



Handling mortality (dead/total) for the dry treatment 

 ranged from 12'^ for the 1-h treatment to 707r for the 3-h 

 treatment (Fig. 4) and did not differ between berried and 

 unberried lobsters (P>0.05). Pooled dead and weak lobsters 

 resulted in a handling mortality that ranged from 16% for 

 the 1-h treatment to 77% for the 3-h treatment (Fig. 5). 



Slipper lobster 



Handling mortalities for slipper lobster were estimated 

 only for the 3-h dry and wet treatments. Mechanical failure 

 of the baitwell recirculating water pumps during the first 

 3-h paired dry and wet experiments forced us to reduce the 

 baitwell holding time to 1 day. After the baitwell pumps 



failed, we repeated the 3-h dry treatment with a 1-d hold- 

 ing period, suspending the holding and control traps 3 m 

 below the sea surface from the Townsend Cromwell. 



Slipper lobster sample sizes by discard category (suble- 

 gal and berried) for each treatment are shown in Table 1. 

 Most slipper lobsters subjected to the 3-h wet treatment 

 were active at the end of the 1-d holding period. For the 

 3-h dry treatment, the number of dead lobsters ranged 

 from 14 to 39, and the number of active lobsters ranged 

 from 56 to 83. All control lobsters were active, indicating 

 no baitwell holding effects. 



Slipper lobster handling mortalities for the 3-h dry treat- 

 ment ranged from 14% to 39% with an average estimate of 

 27% and were unrelated to berried condition (P>0.05). Esti- 

 mates of handling mortalities with weak and dead lobsters 

 combined ranged from 17% to 44% , with an average of 31%. 

 Handling mortality for the 3-h wet treatment was 1%. 



