Richard Wahle
Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences
West Boothbay Harbor, ME 04575
207.633.9600
rwahle@bigelow.org

Since Maine's lobster fishery is the most economically important one in the state, its collapse would severely impact many coastal communities. Management regulations assume that if landings fail, then populations will be seven to 10 years into a stock collapse, and a recovery of the fishery would take decades. The long-term goal of the lobster scientific community is to develop a model for the Gulf of Maine that will be able to predict commercial landings and, thereby, provide an early warning system for the industry. Over the past decade, significant progress has been made toward this goal through several research collaborations. This study will address one of the missing links by using traps to obtain direct estimates of lobster abundance via mark-recapture techniques, and by validating these estimates with diver surveys. This information could make traps a more useful tool in stock assessment.

January 2001: Scientists See Early Indications of Lobster Decline

2-year project, 2001-2003
Year 1: $72,500
Year 2: $70,000
Total: $142,500