The discovery of immature lobsters in the deep waters of the east could be good news for the industry

The discovery of baby lobsters in the deep waters of eastern Maine could be good news for the future of the most valuable fishery in the United States.

Since 1989, scientists led by University of Maine professor Richard Wahle have been looking for baby lobsters at 100 shallow test sites in Rhode Island, New Brunswick to monitor the health of this fishery. The number of babies found in the samples began to decline about ten years ago, which has led scientists to fear a collapse of the population.

"We could not find the settlers," Wahle said Monday. "More and more, we found that they did not show up where we had always found them."

Seven years later, when the unusually high number of baby lobsters did not reduce the catch, that's the time it takes for a lobster to grow and most Maine lobsters are big enough to be legally captured. to look for another answer, and he thinks he's found hiding in the deep waters, not as cold as you thought off Cutler.

Wahle wondered if the small lobsters that ended their four-week float at sea were literally settling in places where researchers did not look for them. According to Wahle, the American lobster colonization index looks for settlers at test sites about 32 feet deep. Perhaps, as the Gulf of Maine warmed up, babies found suitable habitat in deeper waters.

With financial support from Maine Sea Grant, and later from Ready Seafood Co., Wahle searched for baby lobsters off the water and found them propped more than 250 feet below the surface of the water. He found them in the deep waters of Casco Bay and Cutler, but the number of deep-water babies in the east far exceeds that of the south coast.

"Eastern Maine was a desert settlement," said Wahle. "Not anymore."

This is because the deep waters of Maine are warmer than the deep waters of southern Maine. Although it may seem wrong to anyone who has gone swimming in Eastport and Portland, the strong tidal currents of the Bay of Fundy keep the waters of eastern Maine well mixed, so the temperature of the sea is high. water is about the same.

The tides are lower in southern Maine, so the water column is stratified, with warmer waters at the top and cooler waters at the bottom, he said.

This means that the deep waters of eastern Maine are warmer than those of the same depths that are found off the south coast, giving baby lobsters an ideal nursery habitat.

In summer, when the fourth instar larvae begin to dive to the bottom of the ocean to look for a suitable place to settle, the scientists found that the lobsters would turn around and return to the surface if the water temperature dropped below 53 degrees. But with the currents of the Bay of Fundy off eastern Maine, one can find lobster babies up to several miles off.

Wahle is encouraged by these preliminary results, but says that he will have to collect more data in the coming years to see if this lobster baby regulation theory holds up over time. But the expansion of nursery habitat caused by rising ocean temperatures could explain the explosive growth of lobster landings in eastern Maine ports, Wahle said.

It would also be good news for the long-term future of the $ 1.4 billion Maine lobster industry. Several computer models of rising ocean temperatures have predicted a 40-62% decline in Gulf of Maine lobster populations over the next 30 years, but Wahle's results indicate that the Bay of Fundy effect could isolate Eastern Maine.

Other researchers, including Wahle himself, are investigating other factors likely to contribute to the decline of lobster babies found on sites of the American Lobster Settlement Index, including a decrease in copepods that settlers love to eat and an increase in predators who like to eat settlers.

With the continued support of Ready Seafood and the University of Maine, Wahle plans to continue his research on deepwater colonization. The professor would like to increase the number of collection sites in different areas of the Maine coast and test in even deeper waters in eastern Maine, but the financial restrictions will limit it to the Casco Bay and Cutler sites, the less for the moment.

"We are excited to be part of a research project that is improving our understanding of Maine's lobster resources," said Cape Elizabeth Lobster biologist and Ready Seafood fisherman Curt Brown. "Lobster is the cornerstone of Maine's marine economy and we view this project as an investment not only for the future of our society, but for the future of our industry.

Penelope Overton can be reached at 791-6463 or at:

[email protected]

Twitter: PLOvertonPPH

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