Fisheries dataset on moulting patterns and shell quality of American lobsters H. americanus in Atlantic Canada

This survey collated data on lobster moult indicators and on life-history traits (sex, size) during a twelve-year monitoring program (2004 – 2015) in six lobster fishing areas in Atlantic Canada. A standardized sampling protocol was followed to collect data from a total of 141,659 lobsters over 1,195 sampling events using commercial lobster fishing traps. Data on pleopod stages, hemolymph protein levels (Brix˚ values) and shell hardness can be used for moult stage determination. Evaluation of sex ratio dynamics is also possible but existing biases in sampling males and females need to be noted. This dataset is valuable in terms of inferring spatio-temporal trends in the life history of lobsters, as well as in the analysis of their moult cycle, and hence more generally for fisheries science and marine ecology.