1 DR. COOPER: The average size of an off-shore lobster, say, 15 



2 years ago was probably about 6 to 8 pounds with 30 or 40 pounders 



3 occasionally seen. The average size now of this off-shore population is 



4 just about what it is in the Gulf of Maine, 1 1/4 pounds, which is a 



5 wery strong indication that it has been fished very intensively. 



6 The one thing that the deep water population has going for it is 



7 that those lobsters, through their migratory behavior, which the in- 



8 shore lobsters do not perform, maintain themselves at a temperature 



9 regime always of about 9 degrees centigrade or warmer, so they are 



10 active; they are feeding; they are mating; they are shedding; they are 



11 growing throughout the year. 



12 Their growth rate is almost twice that of the in-shore population, 



13 so they are growing. A lobster off-shore reaches sexual maturity at 



14 about the age of 3 or 4; for in-shore, it takes about 7 or 8 years. 



15 That says something about the size structure that you see off-shore. 



16 DR. NEFF: That would imply we should probably be protecting those 



17 resources for our fishermen. 



18 DR. COOPER: There are a lot of fishery managers, Jerry, that 



19 would say that is being done automatically through the economics of 



20 supply and demand. 



21 DR. NEFF: The demand for lobsters is almost infinite, as long as 



22 you can ship them, people will buy them. 



23 DR. BRODY: That is a real argument in favor of special exclusion 



24 for placing rigs along the canyonheads. A special exclusion could 



25 create a sanctuary. 



26 DR. TEAL: As long as you don't drill there. 



27 DR. NEFF: In fact, with any discharges from a rig, there is 



28 likely to be a substantial fishery impact. 



29 DR. VALENTINE: Would it be appropriate in this action to have any 



30 list of why we think the canyons are harboring this special or unusual 



31 fauna? We have--we are defining the nature of the fauna in the canyons, 



32 but I do not think we have addressed or listed why it is different from 



33 comparable depths on the slope or the shelf. 



34 DR. HECKER: We can do a hypothesis on that. 



227 



