DEI’s research includes the American lobster, Homarus americanus, Maine’s most valuable fishery. Our research has explored includes how to raise lobsters in the hatchery and ocean-based nurseries, and studying how fast lobsters grow by Maine coastal region.
From 2004-2010 DEI conducted a series of field trials to examine methods to improve lobster survival rates and enhance growth with the goal of producing lobsters large enough to apply a physical tag that can be seen easily by fishermen and scientists interested in testing directly the efficacy of enhancement efforts.
DEI undertook a study from 2006 to 2008 to determine how fast lobsters grow and whether their growth is influenced by region and/or the type of substrate on which they settle.
In 2002 and 2003, DEI conducted field experiments in Eastern Maine to explore ocean-based nurseries for cultured lobster to assist with stock enhancement.
