Testing of trap styles for capture of sublegal sized lobsters from unknown lobster boat NEC-RB2005-1 in the Southwest Harbor, Mt. Desert Island, Maine from 2006-2007 (NEC_ProjDev project)

<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&quot;Designing and Testing a Sublegal Lobster Sampling Trap&quot;</p>
<p>P.I.: Robert Bayer</p>
<p>Master's Thesis by William Fike</p>
<p>The objective of this study was to design a trap to fill a gap in the collection of data concerning lobster abundance. The trap design should allow sublegal sized lobsters to enter the trap while excluding legal sized lobsters. It is believed that the larger legal sized lobsters inhibit the smaller lobsters from entering the traps and therefore these smaller sized lobsters are not represented in the data collected at this current time. Having the ability to base stock size estimates on smaller size lobsters will help individuals estimate future catch.</p>
<p>See<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http://nec.whoi.edu/pdf/Bayer_05PD_finalreport.pdf\"> final report</a></p>