Lobster study announced by Keddy

Amy Woolvett

THE COAST GUARD

NovaNewsNow.com

New scientific research will be working towards the sustainability of the lobster industry.

Gerald Keddy, MP for South Shore-St. Margaret’s made the announcement last week that the federal government will be investing $175,000.

“Our investment will allow scientists at the Atlantic Veterinary College to better understand why lobster harvests have suffered in recent years and develop new practices that will be shared with people working on the front-lines of this important industry,” said Keddy.

The study is being conducted in Lobster Fishing Areas 33 and 34 and 25 by the Atlantic Veterinary College Lobster Science Centre of the University of Prince Edward Island.

Scientists are applying the principles of veterinary medicine to the lobster fishery, including investigating the moulting part of their life cycle as well as reproduction.

“Bright red, cooked lobster is what we associate with our province…it is the cornerstone of our industry across the region,” said Keddy, “but the slightest economic change can have a profound effect.”

Chief Operating Officer at the Lobster Science Centre at the Atlantic Veterinary College, Jerry Amirault explained some of the reasons why research is so important to the sustainability and overall productivity of the lobster industry.

“Mother Nature played a trick on us a few years back,” he remembered.

Amirault explained that several years ago the moulting of the lobster happened at a later time than usual across the Eastern seaboard and that resulted in fishermen hauling up lobsters that would die shortly after or were arriving dead after being shipped.

“It’s like picking green tomatos when you want red,” he said.

The research team will be involved in accumulating data, sampling protein and answering questions scientifically, such as when a lobster reaches their sexual maturity.

In a non-evasive way the researchers with the aid of local fishermen will be taking samples and tissue to glean more understanding of the lobster.

The expected date of their findings is set at 2012 at which point many of the findings will be released for the benefit of the lobster industry.

“We are looking at a billion-dollar industry,” said Amirault, “with such little money we can look at and sustain the lobster industry.”