182 



Fishery Bulletin 100(2) 



Materials and methods 



The recapture position was documented for 8503 lobsters, 

 ranging in size from 51 to 152 mm carapace length (CL), 

 from a total of 42,445 tagged and released during forty-six 



tagging studies in thirty-one sites throughout the south- 

 western GSL (Fig. 1) between 1980 and 1997 (Table 2). 

 The animals were captured by traps and tagged between 

 July and November after the commercial fishing seasons 

 (May and June in LFAs 23, 24, 26A, and 26B, and from 

 mid-August to mid-October in LFA 25). The CL, measured 

 to the nearest mm, sex of each animal, and presence or 

 absence of eggs under the female abdomen were recorded. 

 Prior to 1989, all animals were tagged with orange sphy- 

 rion anchor tags, and blue streamer tags were used after 



1992. Between 1989 and 1992 inclusively, both type of tags 

 were used. A description of the tags and the tagging tech- 

 nique are presented in Moriyasu et al. ( 1995) and Comeau 

 et al.(1998). 



The positions of recaptured lobsters came from fisher- 

 men. Because all tagging projects were undertaken after 

 each commercial fishing season, no lobsters were recap- 

 tured during the same year of their tagging. To increase 

 fishermen's participation in reporting tagged animals, 

 a major awareness campaign was conducted. Prior to 



1993, representatives of the Department of Fisheries and 

 Oceans (DFO) were present at each wharf to measure and 

 collect information on tagged lobsters that were recap- 

 tured. Beginning in 1993, letters were sent to all lobster 

 fishermen in regions where tagging projects were conduct- 

 ed; in these letters the tagging project was described, in- 



Gulf of St. Lawrence 



Figure 1 



Locations (*) of American lobster {Hnniaruf; amencanus) tagging studies conducted in the southwestern Gulf of St. 

 Lawrence between 1980 and 1997. The names of each site are presented in Table 2. The lobster fishing areas (LFAs) are 

 indicated on the map. 



