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Feature Articles
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DMR builds network to monitor lobster health
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This article is reprinted with permission of Commercial Fisheries News, the Northeast's fishing newspaper for over 30 years, ©2003 Compass Publications Inc. Commercial Fisheries News is published monthly; annual subscriptions are $21.95. To subscribe or request a sample issue: call (877) 263-4496; fax (207) 367-2490; e-mail (cfoster@fish-news.com); or click on the hot link.
WEST BOOTHBAY HARBOR, ME - Amid a scattering
of reports of shell disease, the Maine Department of Marine Resources
(DMR) continued to hone the effectiveness of its lobster health
monitoring network.
"We want to document the incidence of
any diseased, weak, or dead lobsters," said Carl Wilson, DMR's
lead lobster biologist.
DMR is recording data on the health of
the resource through sea sampling, port sampling, and the inshore
trawl survey.
It also expected to distribute a "Lobster
Health Notice" to all buying stations in early August. The purpose
of the poster is to enlist lobstermen in becoming part of the
monitoring network.
"We need industry to participate," Wilson
said in late July.
DMR samplers were seeing two to four lobsters
a month with shell disease and Wilson was also receiving calls,
primarily from southern Maine.
"We don't know if this is an increase
from 'background' levels or a result of heightened awareness,"
he said.
Acknowledging that people are concerned,
Wilson emphasized that current DMR sampling programs have shown
no significant concentrations of diseased or weak lobsters in
Maine.
Plan ahead
The point of the monitoring effort is to
document early indications of change in the status of the lobster
resource.
Maine is coming off a year of record production.
According to DMR preliminary data, 62.3 million pound of lobsters
worth over $207.3 million were landed in 2002.
Even factoring in for the effort to increase
dealer reporting last year, the catch still ranks as the best among
a string of years in which annual production has hovered around
50 million pounds.
But lobstermen and the DMR have also followed
the plight of the industry in Southern New England. First it was
the die-off in Long Island Sound starting in 1999. The incidence
of shell disease in Area 2 continued to climb from early reports
in 2000, now reaching estimates that as much as 35%-40% of the lobster
population is affected. At the same time, landings in the area have
declined sharply over the last three years.
"We know people are asking what Area 2 means
for Maine," said DMR Commissioner George Lapointe. "What if it happens
here?"
Lapointe believes the state can best handle
any kind of decline by starting now to raise awareness and to monitor
both the lobster stock and the environment for change.
Besides watching all the variables, this
is also the time to start the discussion of contingencies, he said,
figuring out what to do so industry and DMR are poised to act.
"A trigger point (for action) will be hard
to decide," Lapointe said. "There won't be consensus."
He is also sensitive to the fact that a
drop in catch from record-breaking levels may be inevitable, but
not an indication of anything more than a natural stock fluctuation.
Even if it's within a "normal" range, though, there will still be
negative, though survivable economic impacts, Lapointe said.
Committee
An important part of the monitoring effort
is the ad hoc DMR lobster health committee that was convened in
May. In addition to Wilson, its membership includes Deputy Commissioner
David Etnier, Col. Joe Fessenden of the Marine Patrol, and lobstermen
Bob Baines and Lyman Kennedy.
First the committee set up the protocol
for handling shell disease and weak lobsters. Next it is planning
coastwide distribution of its lobster health poster, according to
Etnier.
"We want to be proactive both with information
and clear direction for lobstermen on what to do," he said.
The committee expects to meet at the end
of the season to assess the overall lobster health picture, Etnier
said, as well as anytime sooner that is warranted by changes.
The committee has also decided to convene
a day-long session in September to bring Maine lobstermen together
with Southern New England researchers working on shell disease and
weak lobster syndrome projects. Poster
The DMR's lobster health poster lists the
information that it would like reported on any shell diseased or
weak lobsters. Naturally occurring organisms such as bacteria and
amoebae are believed responsible for those conditions. While they
may decrease survival in lobsters, they do not pose a health risk
to humans.
In other words, while they may not look
appealing, it's OK to eat lobsters that have shell disease. It is
recognizable as abrasion or pitting of the shell on the carapace,
though it can also be found on the claws or tail if more of the
lobster's surface is involved.
Weak lobsters show limited signs of life,
and their claws are almost completely limp when the animal is picked
up.
The DMR wants to collect about five diseased
lobsters a month along with healthy lobsters from the same location
for lab analysis, Wilson said.
In July, for example, 10 diseased lobsters
along with five normal "control" lobsters for comparison were sent
to a lab in Lafayette, LA for bacteriology analysis.
Money allocated from the seed Lobster Fund
is supporting an ongoing research project by Charles O'Kelly of
the Bigelow Laboratory of Ocean Sciences in Boothbay Harbor.
According to his summary, the purpose of
O'Kelly's research is to "know the risks for significant outbreaks
of paramoebiasis (weak lobster syndrome) and shell disease in Maine
lobsters, by better understanding the biology of the amoeba associated
with these diseases. Samples of diseased and weak lobsters will
be collected by the DMR for rapid processing at the Bigelow Laboratory
in Boothbay Harbor. When possible, in conjunction with the DMR,
we will work with colleagues who are currently working on lobster
health issues in southern New England by providing samples for analysis."
What to do
If someone finds a legal-size shell-diseased
or weak lobster in his trap, he should make note of the size and
condition of the lobster as well as the trap's location, depth,
and type of bottom. Wilson wants that information to be reported
to him.
If a lobsterman wants to turn in the lobster
to DMR, he should isolate it in a bucket, as well as save out separately
a normal lobster from the same string. He should then contact Wilson
to arrange transport.
If a lobsterman is willing to get the data
for the report but doesn't want to deal with turning the lobster
over to DMR for analysis, he can return the shell diseased or weak
lobster to the water, or bring it in as part of his catch, depending
on his dealer.
The DMR is not recommending any special
treatment for these lobsters, Wilson said.
"I have had several fishermen say they will
take a 'legal diseased' lobster home for dinner rather than sell
it," he said.
Lobstermen are not being asked to remove
illegal-sized lobsters that have shell disease or are weakened from
the water. There is no scientific evidence, at this point, to show
that it spreads from one animal to another, and affected lobsters
may recover. Many, for instance, are known to shed their diseased
shell and show no signs of the previous damage on the new shell.
Industry participation is key to tracking
any change in lobster health. Since lobstermen spend more time hauling
traps and handling lobsters than anyone else, it's important they
be part of the monitoring network, Wilson said.
"We are counting on them to be our eyes,
our physical hands, on the water," he concluded.
WHAT TO DO WITH A DISEASED LOBSTER
- Contact Carl Wilson at (207) 633-9538 or e-mail Carl.Wilson@maine.gov.
- Report the size and condition of the lobster and the location,
depth, and bottom where captured.
- Transport by isolating the lobster in a crate, and retain
one additional normal lobster from the same area.
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