Lobsters in a pinch: teens dive in to help lobster conservation

Science World, Feb 18, 2008 by Susan Gaidos

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Last October, high school students decked out in red survival suits dove into the chilly waters of Long Island Sound (see map, right). Bobbing in the water in their oddly shaped garb, the teenagers looked like giant steamed lobsters. In fact, this cold-water dip was part of a water-safety session designed to prepare the teens for working at sea with these crustaceans.

For thousands of years, lobsters--which have an external skeleton, segmented body, and five pairs of legs--thrived along coastlines around the world. In recent years, however, the populations in many areas have declined due to diseases and over-fishing. Scientists fear that if lobster populations continue to plummet, it could lead to economical and ecological disasters.

To ensure that lobster populations in the Long Island Sound remain healthy, the Connecticut government recently launched a conservation program that places high school students on local lobster fishing boats. "I'm always looking for ways to spend time on the water," says Tyler Hawkins, a student at Bridgeport Regional Vocational Aquaculture School in Connecticut. "When I got a chance to work in this program, I jumped on it."

Tyler and the other teens' duty: Make sure that mature female lobsters that are caught are returned to sea. That will give the lobsters more chances to spawn eggs, helping to boost lobster populations.

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

Take one look at the lobster on your dinner plate, and you'll see that it is armed with combative claws. But it didn't start out its life that way. The transition to the claw-bearing lobster that diners crave is a slow one, says zoologist Win Watson, who studies lobster behavior at the University of New Hampshire.

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Once lobster eggs hatch in the water, the mosquito-size larvae float to the ocean surface. These developing young resemble scrunched-up bugs and live their early lives as zooplankton, or microscopic animals that drift wherever water currents take them (see Nuts & Bolts, p. 14). Then the larvae will molt, or shed their shells, several times as they grow.

One of the first body parts that a larva grows is a set of swimmerets. These small and feathery appendages located on the underside of the tail enable a lobster to swim, guiding it through waters.

At approximately 1 month old, the juvenile swims to the sea floor. There, it lives hidden among rocks and continues to molt and expand in size. During this time, young lobsters are protected from cooks' steam pots. That's because according to laws in Connecticut, lobster fishers must throw back into the sea any catch measuring less than 84.14 millimeters (3.31 inches). It takes seven to eight years for a lobster to grow to that size.

COUNTING CRUSTACEANS

Having size restrictions has not fully prevented the number of lobsters from plummeting. Overfishing, water pollution, and disease have affected the health of many lobster populations. Shell disease--caused by bacteria that invade through the pores of lobster shells--spurred a large lobster die-off in Long Island Sound in the late 1990s, says Watson. Today, the area's lobster population is still slow to recover. In addition, studies warn that the lobster populations in New England may be on the brink of collapse.

Scientists believe that if lobster populations continue to dip, fishing and food industries that rely on the crustaceans will face economic hardship. In addition, a crash in lobster populations could disrupt the ecosystem of the seabed. Lobsters prey on crabs and other small marine animals. Without lobsters to keep those animals in check, their populations could explode.

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TOP-NOTCH EFFORT

Females are vital to a healthy lobster population. They become mature enough to lay eggs at around the same time as when they reach the legal-to-catch size in Connecticut. To protect these female lobsters, some high-school seniors have joined a state conservation program that pairs them with local lobster fishers.

The students go to sea and weed through lobster catches to identify the females. Then they use a special tool to cut a V-shape notch in the female lobster's tail and release her back to sea. The state has made it illegal for anyone to catch, sell, or buy notched females.

The program requires the students to learn lobster basics. For instance, they learn to tell a female lobster from a male by looking at its tail and swimmerets. Female lobsters have wider tails than males, and their first set of swimmerets is feathery, while males' are bony.

The students also must learn the proper way to handle the crustaceans. Because a lobster's forceful claw can break a person's finger, "The trainers showed us how to [safely use] our index fingers and thumbs to hold the lobster around the carapace where the two claws meet," says Madison McManns, a classmate of Tyler's at Bridgeport Regional Vocational Aquaculture School.

RECIPE FDR SUCCESS

Although the program just began this past fall, everyone involved believes it will work. Some restoration programs can hurt lobster fishers' bottom line, but not this one: Those lobster fishers who participate get paid for any female lobsters that the students notch and toss back to sea. This way, the lobster fishers continue to profit from their trade while allowing lobster populations time to rebound.