1977) show that 65% and 75% out of 3000 tagged lobsters were captured within 4 

 months and 1 year respectively. Recently molted animals actively seek food 

 and may be trapped by fishermen more easily than hard-shelled lobsters which 

 may confine their feeding activity to a smaller territory (Thomas 1973). 



Perturbations such as oil spills, dredging, spoil disposal, and discharge of 

 contaminants could potentially affect lobster populations, but the effects of 

 these factors on lobster distribution and abundance in Maine are unknown. 



Importance to Humanity 



The lobster industry is the largest commercial shellfish industry in Maine. 

 The landings and dollar value of the lobster fishery are given for the last 10 

 years in figure 12-4. 



The fishery began in the early 19th century when fishermen from other States 

 came to Casco Bay. Local fishermen began to fish for lobster soon after and 

 the fishery was established in Eastport by the middle of the century. 



In the early 1950s significant changes took place in the gear used in 

 lobstering, especially the introduction of the hydraulic haul. With the new 

 haul and bigger, more powerful boats each fisherman could manage a greater 

 number of traps; thus the lobster catch increased (figure 12-5). Since that 

 time fishing intensity (in terms of numbers of traps) has increased while 

 catch has decreased (figure 12-5). 



Management 



Many types of restrictive regulations apply to the lobster fishery. They 

 include: licensing; use of conventional traps with escape vents; maximum and 

 minimum-size restrictions (3.1 to 5.5 inches, or 81 to 127 mm, carapace 

 length); prohibition of removing berried lobsters, scrubbing eggs off, or 

 removing those marked with a notch (marked by the MDMR to identify egg 

 carrying females) on the second flipper from the right; trap limitations on a 

 single line in some areas; and limitation of fishing hours in the summer (1 

 June to 31 October). Lobster fishermen of 2 offshore islands (Monhegan and 

 Criehaven) may petition the Commissioner of Marine Resources to control their 

 fishing seasons. 



Thomas (1973) and Dow and coworkers (1975) submitted two lobster-management 

 recommendations to the State legislative committees as a result of their 

 research. The first was to raise the minimum-size limit from 3.1 to 3.5 

 inches (81 to 89 mm). It is estimated that 80% of the legal-size lobsters 

 harvested in Maine are between 3.1 and 3.6 inches (81 and 92 mm; Thomas 1973). 

 This means that lobsters are caught as fast as they reach legal size and that 

 most females do not spawn once before they are harvested. This recommendation 

 has not yet been implemented. The second recommendation (which has been 

 implemented) was to increase the space in the sides of traps, that allows 

 small lobsters to escape before traps are hauled. The increase to 1.75 inches 

 (44.5 mm) would reduce injury and loss of claws. 



Attempts have been made recently in Maine to explore the potential of the 

 American lobster for aquaculture. If lobsters could be raised successfully it 

 might be possible to supplement natural populations as well as support 



12-17 



10-80 



