Population Characteristics of the American Lobster, 

 Homarus americanus, in Eastern 

 Long Island Sound, Connecticut 



MILAN KESER, DONALD F LANDERS, JR., and JEFFREY D. MORRIS 2 



ABSTRACT 



Population characteristics of the American lobster have been studied extensively in the vicinity of Millstone 

 Point, Conn. Since 1975, 22,150 lobsters have been tagged, and pertinent biological data recorded. Catch per unit 

 effort was similar among years, but was significantly higher for wire than wooden pots. Legal-sized individuals 

 ranged from 4.5 to 18.1 r o of the total catch. The percentage of culled lobsters ranged from 9.7 to 17.4%, and was 

 greater for wood than wire pots. The sampled population was comprised of 51% males and 49% females. Berried 

 females accounted for 3.1-6.7% of the total catch, and over half of these were of sublegal si/e. Growth per molt 

 averaged 13.0% and was not significantly different between sexes. A major period of molting occured in the late 

 spring and earlv summer. 



INTRODUCTION 



MATERIALS AND METHODS 



The American lobster, Homarus amerkanus, has been studied 

 extensively throughout much of its range (Cobb and Phillips 

 1980a,b). Quantitative investigations of lobster populations within 

 Long Island Sound (LIS) have begun only in the past 10 yr. Stewart 

 (1972) studied the ecology of lobsters in the vicinity of Fisher's 

 Island Sound; Lund et al. (1973)' inventoried lobster habitats and 

 gathered data on movements throughout LIS; Smith (1977) 4 

 described population characteristics in LIS and socioeconomic 

 aspects of the commercial fishery along the Connecticut coast; 

 Briggs and Mushacke (1979) published results of a 3-yr study on 

 selected population characteristics of lobsters in western LIS. The 

 present study is part of a larger monitoring program at the 

 Millstone Nuclear Power Station (MNPS) and is the first long term 

 investigation of a lobster population in the eastern portion of LIS, 

 representing results from 1975 to 1981. 



This study was designed to assess the potential impact of con- 

 struction and operation of MNPS on the local lobster population. 

 Data on catch per unit effort, size frequencies, sex ratios, growth 

 rates, incidence of berried females, number of culls, molting pat- 

 terns, and gear effectiveness are presented here. These parameters 

 are compared year to year, seasonally, between stations, and with 

 data reported throughout northeastern North America. 



'Northeast Utilities Environmental Laboratory, P.O. Box 128, Waterford, CT 

 06385. 



'Northeast Utilities Environmental Laboratory, P.O. Box 128, Waterford, 

 Conn.; present address: Biometric Unit, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853. 



'Lund, W. A., L. L. Stewart, and C. J. Rathbun. 1973. Investigation on the 

 lobster. U.S. Dep. Commer., NOAA, Natl. Mar. Fish. Serv., Commer. Fish. 

 Res. Dev. Act, Project No. 3-130-R, 189 p. 



"Smith, E. M. 1977. Some aspects of catch/effort, biology, and the economics 

 of the Long Island Sound lobster fishery during 1976. U.S. Dep. Commer., 

 NOAA, Natl. Mar. Fish. Serv., Commer. Fish. Res. Dev. Act, Project No. 

 3-253-R-I,97p. 



The study area is located in Waterford, Conn., adjacent to 

 MNPS (Fig. 1). The power station includes two operating nuclear 

 reactors and a third under construction. Unit 1 is a 652 MWe reac- 

 tor and has operated since November 1970. Unit 2 is a 850 MWe 

 reactor operating since October 1975. The third reactor will be 

 1,150 MWe, and is scheduled for commercial operation in 1986. 



Figure 1. — Map of Millstone Point area showing the location of the lobster 

 sampling stations (A-Jordan Cove, B-T«otree, C-Intake). 



