the data which provided a comparable continuum were used to describe the lobster population under 

 2-unit operating conditions. 



RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 

 Abundance and Catch Per Unit Effort 



Annual catch statistics for lobsters caught in pots from 1976 to 1985 are presented in Table 2. A 

 total of 51,717 lobsters was caught in 40,910 pothauls. Annual total catch per unit effort (CPUE) ranged 

 from 0.56 to 2.10 lobsters per trap. The lower CPUE values for 1976-77 correspond to data collected 

 with wood pots which allow smaU lobsters to escape between the 3-5 cm lath spacings. 



Table 2. Catch statistics for lobsters caught in pots ' from May through October (1976-85). 



60 wood pots used from 1976-77; 30 wood and 30 wire pots used from 1978-81; 60 wire pots used 

 from 1982-85. 



Wood and wire pots used during a 3 1/2 yr gear-comparison study provided the basis for using all 

 wire pots in our lobster studies beginning in 1982. Monthly total and legal CPUE for wood and wire pots 

 are presented in Table 3. The CPUE data are proportions (no. lobsters caught/no. pots hauled) with 

 nonhomogeneous variances and normorma! distributions. Therefore, the nonparametric Wilcoxon 2-sample 

 test was used to test for equal catchability between pot types. The CPUE of legal-sized lobsters (greater 

 than or equal to 81 mm CL) was similar for wood and wire pots throughout the gear comparison study; 

 however, except for 1981, the total CPUE was significantly higher for wire pots. This, of course, was due 

 to greater catches of sub-legal lobsters in the wire pots. 



