Q&A with The Whitby Hatchery and The National Lobster Hatchery

Joe Redfern from the Whitby Hatchery

Why is it so important for us to be funding lobster research right now?

Lobsters are truly amazing animals. They host a huge array of impressive attributes making them really well suited to their environments. The more we learn about these incredible animals the greater inspiration our society can take from natural design.

Also, these species play an important role in the ecosystem. By unlocking the mechanisms of their life and biology the greater equipped we as humans will be to help protect and conserve lobsters and our marine environments.

What are the most surprising findings in recent years?

One of the most impressive and surprising outcomes of lobster research is its use in space technology…yes, space! Lobsters have a unique method of capturing light through their eyes, reflecting lighting instead of refracting it like humans and other animals do.

Scientists and engineers have made use of the design of the lobster eye in satellites and x-ray telescopes. Who would’ve thought that lobsters living at the bottom of our oceans have helped us explore the outreaches of space.

https://spacecentre.co.uk/blog-post/lobsters-in-space/

Why is it important to release lobsters in the wild?

Lobsters are a commercially and environmentally important species, performing a vital role in human societies as well as their own underwater societies.

The popularity of eating lobster has risen over the past few decades so, it is more important than ever to ensure these species are protected.

Along the North East coast lobsters make up the vast majority of incomes for our fishing fleets, it is important to ensure the sustainability and longevity of the fishing industry whilst also ensuring that ecological balance is maintained.

By releasing juvenile lobsters, we can offset the number of lobsters caught by fishers, protecting the wild populations. By doing this, we can ensure lobsters live in our oceans for many generations to come.

Clare Stanley from the National Lobster Hatchery

Why is it so important for us to be funding lobster research right now?

Lobster populations are incredibly important. Lobsters perform a valuable ecological service within marine ecosystems and they are of huge social and economic importance to us.

The European lobster is a very vulnerable species, as its high value results in intense fishing pressure, which coupled with low recruitment success (low survival rates of offspring), makes them susceptible to stock collapse.

The marine conservation, education and research work that the National Lobster Hatchery undertakes is pioneering and proactive: as well as helping to conserve our native vulnerable lobster stocks it is developing techniques that will help prevent the collapse of the lobster fishery through restocking.

Such collapses have already happened in Scandinavia and parts of the Mediterranean where lobster stocks have already collapsed and failed to recover.

What are the most surprising findings in recent years?

The European Lobster is an incredibly fascinating species and the NLH’s research and observations into their unique lifecycle, morphology, genetics and habits, continue to unearth new and exciting discoveries all the time.

Our most recent research projects involve ageing lobsters, the genetic modelling of lobster populations and genetic sequencing for broodstock development, to name a few, as well as ongoing research and analysis to improve and assess the effectiveness of our lobster stock enhancement programme.

There are so many interesting facts and features of lobsters that never cease to amaze even our own team of ‘Lobster Nerds’. Here are some of our favourites:

1. Lobsters shed their shell (moult) to grow – they can also regrow limbs.
2. They evolved over 140 million years ago and can live for over 100 years.
3. Lobsters have an extra stomach behind their head ‘the gastric mill’ which has teeth like appendages.
4. They have copper-based blood which is clear
5. They can grow to over a meter in length – they don’t actually stop growing!
6. If we grew at the same rate as a lobster, a human baby could grow to the same size as 11 blue whales!
7. The largest European lobster ever caught was in Fowey 1931 and it was 1.26M and weighed 10kg (compared to average weight 400g -500g)
8. Lobsters can crush 100 pounds per square inch with their claws
9. Female lobsters can store male sperm for two years then self-fertilise their own eggs(they will get sperm from many males if needed!)
10. Phoebe from Friends got it wrong!! Lobsters sadly don’t mate for life, they are actually way more likely to eat each other!!!

Why is it important to release lobsters in the wild?

At the NLH we operate a unique and innovative lobster stock enhancement programme that involves raising baby lobsters at the hatchery until they reach a life stage at which they are better able to survive in the wild.

It is at this point that we release them back into our waters with the help of local fishermen and dive schools. This helps to replenish natural stocks which are incredibly important to our coastal communities and the many livelihoods they support.

By releasing baby lobsters into the wild, the NLH aims to protect the long term future of our vital marine food resources and help safeguard our rich coastal heritage.

Healthy lobster populations are not only of great environmental and economic importance, but they play a notable role culturally too.

Without our native lobster populations, fishing communities would struggle to survive and ultimately it could mean the demise of many maritime traditions, trades and heritage.

More Information

A female lobster can carry in the region of 4,000 to 40,000 eggs but only one hatched larvae from these eggs is expected to survive in the wild, as they are born underdeveloped and receive no post-birth care.

They are basically dispersed into the marine environment with a flick of the mother lobster’s tail and left floating around as ‘fish food’!

The NLH’s conservation programme helps improve this survival rate dramatically, making a significant difference by helping to protect fragile lobster larvae from predators (including each other!) and providing all they need when they are at their most vulnerable.

To date, we have raised and released over 300,000 juvenile lobsters to help conserve our vulnerable native stocks.

The NLH’s mission is a very proactive one: as well as helping to conserve vulnerable stocks its developing techniques will help enable us to restock a fishery should it experience collapse.

This mission is becoming increasingly important, not just in the UK but as a model for fisheries and coastal community management worldwide.

With more than 75% of global fish stocks either over-exploited, fully exploited, depleted or recovering, and demand for seafood at an all-time high.

As a global centre of expertise, the NLH’s work is recognised on the world stage and over three-quarters of a million visitors have already been educated through the NLH visitor centre about sustainability issues associated with fisheries and how to help resolve them.

To date, the NLH has raised and released over 300,000 baby lobsters into our coastal waters and we are confident this is having a positive impact on the sustainability of our local lobster fishery.