Monitoring of the American lobster resource and fishery in New Hampshire Monitoring of the American lobster resource and fishery in New Hampshire - 1997

The New Hampshire lobster population was monitored in 1997 by means of SCUBA captured lobsters. Sampling for small, sub-legal lobsters was conducted by SCUBA diving on a monthly basis along the New Hampshire coast and in an estuarine river. Three sampling areas were delineated based on environmental differences in marine habitat. These areas consisted of an upper river estuarine, a lower river estuarine and a nearshore coastal. A total of 1565 lobsters were captured, measured, sexed and checked for shell hardness or signs of premolt. Individuals captured ranged between 12 and 95 mm carapace length (mmCL) and averaged 47.6 mmCL. Catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) overall was highest in the coastal area. CPUE and mean carapace length were generally high during the summer/fall months and lower in the winter/spring months. Molting took place from June to October with peaks observed in July and October. Grant no. NA46Fl0266