$2.3 million in funding announced for lobster research

Amy Woolvett

FOR THE SOU’WESTER

MP Gerald Keddy has announced funding of $2.3 million to aid in lobster research in the provinces of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island under the Atlantic Innovation Fund (AIF).

“The health and success of the lobster industry is important to the Atlantic Canadian Economy,” said Keddy. “Innovative research supported by ACOA’s AIF program is essential to the long-term success of this billion dollar industry. Innovation is a catalyst for increased trade, investment and productivity, and helps us attract and retain a highly skilled work force here in Nova Scotia.”

The announcement was made on Jan. 17. The Atlantic Lobster Moult and Quality Project, being led by the Atlantic Veterinary College (AVC) at the University of Prince Edward Island, will explore ways to improve the quality of lobsters landed, primarily in southwestern Nova Scotia and the Northumberland Strait.

The total cost of the project is expected to be $4.4 million with industry, community and provincial government partners providing the support.

“Anything we can do to help the industry,” said Keddy during the funding announcement. “At the end of the day it will be the fishermen who rely on this industry to feed their families…right now the industry is feeling strain and this is one way of ensuring we remain at the top of the pack and keep our communities and this region alive.”

The project is responding to the fishery’s economic hardships, resulting from increased lobster mortalities, decreased saleable value for live product and the loss of international markets due to the occurrence of ‘soft shell’ lobster and low meat yield.

Researchers believe this to be a cause from a shift in the lobsters’ moult cycle and they are now working on a non-evasive way to determine the lobster’s cycle.

“The AVC Lobster Science Centre is a research facility dedicated to conducting lobster health research says Jerry Amirault, Chief Operating Officer, AVC Lobster Science Centre. “We are excited by the possibilities that AIF funding for this project brings in terms of advancing scientific knowledge related to lobster health and life cycles, and the role this knowledge can play in promoting the health and sustainability of the lobster industry in Atlantic Canada.”

The project is divided into five major activities including: field monitoring to collect biological data; developing a method to assess reproductive status of female lobster’ gene discovery to identify molecular markers associated with moult and reproductive cycles’ development of a biochemistry profile’ and the establishment of a service unit within the AVC Lobster Science Centre to help increase post-harvest activity.

(Amy Woolvett is a journalist with Transcontinental Media’s Shelburne Coast Guard newspaper and a contributor to the Sou’Wester.)