FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 83, NO. 4 



Table 5. — Summary of lobster catches during closed fishing season (June-July 1981) and during the fishing season 

 (August-October 1981) in Egmont Bay. Shorts = prerecruits <63.5 mm CL; legals = recruits >63.5 mm CL. 



ed with Laminaria longicruris), four passed under 

 the drag and were possibly injured, and three were 

 struck during the course of one tow (in May) 

 resulting in claw loss or a cracked carapace In the 

 latter instance, strong currents impeded the escape 

 of lobsters. 



Scallop size frequencies were similar in May and 

 July in each of the two commercially fished areas 

 and all scallop age classes were exploited about 

 equally. 



Lobster Abundance and Distribution 

 Abundance 



The number of lobsters caught per unit of effort 

 (trap haul; CPUE) increased during the experimen- 

 tal fishing period in all areas (Ikble 5). During the 

 commercial fishing period, CPUE of prerecruits in- 

 creased but CPUE of legal-sized lobsters decreased 

 presumably as a result of fishing mortality. Number 

 of lobsters per trap haul was not significantly dif- 



ferent between areas observed during the ex- 

 perimental period (Ikble 5). The use of CPUE is 

 unreliable in the quantitative estimation of lobster 

 abundance as many factors affect trapability, in- 

 cluding water temperature, lobster behavior, molting, 

 relative trap and lobster densities, and bait attrac- 

 tiveness (Elner 1980). 



Lobster Movement 



Of the 740 tagged lobsters recaptured (37%), 658 

 had recapture location data (Ikbles 1, 6). In areas 

 1, 2, and 3, the majority (65-78%) of tagged lobsters 

 were recaptured within 10 km of release, but in area 

 4, 50% were caught 11-18.5 km from release (Ikble 

 6). The mean distance moved was not significantly 

 different for tagged lobsters released in areas 1, 2, 

 or 3, but lobsters from area 4 moved a significantly 

 (P < 0.01) greater mean distance than those of the 

 other three areas. 



Direction statistics (according to Saila and Flowers 

 1968) summarize the nature of lobster movement 



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