New England Lobster Settlement Index

The New England lobster settlement index is a sampling program
supported by Maine, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. The goal of the program is
to evaluate the strength of lobster year classes as they first arrive by larval
settlement in shallow, nearshore nurseries. The information obtained from the
research can then be used in stock assessment, and in forecasting trends in the
fishery.

Sponsor: Maine DMR, Mass Marine Fisheries, RI DEM, DFO Canada, Sea Grant in
initial stages

Materials and Methods: Divers from Bigelow Laboratory employ a suction sampler
to collect newly-settled lobsters. Cryptic in behavior at this stage, juvenile
lobsters prefer to settle in shelter-providing cobble-boulder habitats. The
suction samples are sorted in the laboratory for young -of-year lobsters, about
an inch (2.5cm) in total length. In their first year, lobsters grow slightly
larger in the southern part of their range than in the colder waters to the
north. Thus, it takes lobsters in Rhode Island 4-5 years to reach harvestable
size, whereas it can take up to 9 years for lobsters in the colder Gulf of
Maine.

Number of Samples Collected: 12 quadrats per site