size of berried females found in the western portion (see Smith 1977; 



Briggs and Mushacke 1979) . 



Impingement 



The total estimated number of lobsters impinged from 1975-81 was 

 6,184 (Table 8). Unit 1 impinged 3,054 lobsters and Unit 2, 3,130. The 

 size distributions of impinged lobsters from 1975-81 are presented in 

 Figure 9. The mean CL ranged from 48.6 mm (1975) to 64.9 mm (1977). 

 The number of lobsters impinged varied seasonally; highest impingement 

 occurred during the summer months concomitant with increased water 

 temperature. Estimated survival rates for the past three years averaged 

 65% for lobsters returned to the lab for impingement counts. Lobsters 

 not removed for counts experience 100% mortality thus, the actual survival 

 is about 28% of the total number impinged. Proposed sluiceways at Units 

 1 and 3 will increase our total percent annual survival to about 68% 

 (NUSCo 1981b). 

 Gear Effectiveness 



An important objective of the lobster study was to gather information 



on as large a segment of the local lobster population as possible. 



2 

 Through the use of wire pots (2.5 cm mesh) we anticipated increased 



catch of smaller sized lobsters capable of escaping through the 3-5 cm 

 gap between the laths of the commerical wood pots. There was no signifi- 

 cant difference (ANOV p < 0.05) in the CPUE of legal-sized lobsters 

 caught in wood (286) and wire (266) pots. A Kolmogorov-Smironov test on 

 the size distribution of lobsters caught in the two pot types indicated 

 that wire pots caught significantly (p < 0.05) more of the < 75 mm CL 

 size class than did the wood pots. These results are similar to those 

 of Krouse (1973) who found that CL of the catch from wire pots averaged 



24 



