Ever see an inch-long lobster?

Understanding where newly hatched lobsters settle on the bottom and how many survive the perilous first few weeks of life has long been a challenge for scientists.

But a project in Lobster Bay in southwestern Nova Scotia to see if collectors made of wire mesh and filled with rocks would sample young lobsters proved to be very successful.

Baby lobsters that hatch out of eggs in mid-to-late summer typically spend their first three to six weeks as larvae “free-floating” in the ocean. When they grow to a fully formed lobster they are only about half an inch long. It is at this size that they actively search for shelter on the bottom of the ocean. Often this shelter is in the form of rocks that are about the size of baseballs to small soccer balls.

Rick Wahle, a scientist at the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Science, worked with the fishing industry in Maine to design and test a collector for young lobsters. To see how effective his design would be in Nova Scotia waters a project was initiated by DFO scientist John Tremblay. This was a Fishermen and Scientists Research Society (FSRS) project, and was a collaboration among fishermen from Lower Argyle, the FSRS and DFO Science Branch.

Vital funding for the project was provided by the Nova Scotia Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture.

The site chosen for the project was Lobster Bay, where there was already some information on where lobsters settle. The project involved first constructing 140 of the wire collectors and then filling them with rock. The wire mesh collectors are about two feet by three feet, six inches high and weigh about 250 pounds when full of rock The collectors were set on the bottom in five locations in Lobster Bay in late June and hauled after the first week in October.

The results were very encouraging.

Over 115 settlers were found in the collectors. This number may seem small until it is realized that the total area covered by the collectors was less than 30 by 30 feet.

The number of newly settled lobsters compared favourably with what was found by divers using suction sampling in early October. Suction sampling has been the gold standard for measuring the concentration of newly settled lobsters and it was important to compare the results from this method with the results from the collectors.

In addition to the newly settled lobsters, the collectors also had lobsters that were one to two years old, as well as other animals such as small fish, shrimp, mussels and clams. It is hoped that this collaboration can continue and that the project can be expanded to other areas in the coming years.