Maine Delegation Announces More Than $1.9 Million for Lobster Research in Maine

WASHINGTON, D.C.-Today, U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King, and U.S. Representatives Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden, are announcing the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Sea Grant Office's decision to award seven Maine projects with $1,941,692 in funding for the American Lobster Research Program. The grant program supports projects that address critical knowledge gaps about American lobster and its fishery in a dynamic and changing environment.

"Maine's lobstermen and women have long demonstrated their commitment to maintaining and protecting a sustainable fishery in the Gulf of Maine," said the Maine Delegation. "This new investment of $1.9 million for research will ensure that Maine's fishery will have the latest thinking to guide their work. From economic and technological advancements to research on how the warming Gulf of Maine is impacting lobster growth, this critical funding will ensure that fishermen and women, lawmakers, and scientists have they information they need to make informed decisions about the future of the industry. As we have always done, we will continue to support federal initiatives that protect Maine's iconic fishery for generations to come."

The 2024 funding will be awarded to the Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries, the University of Maine, the Maine Department of Marine Resources, and the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve. More specifically, the funding will support research studying the economic implications of changes to the ecosystem, molt indicators to inform machine learning, research into socioeconomic impacts of regulations on the industry, a project to tag lobsters and track them through their first year of life, and a study to follow optimal nutritional conditions for female lobsters and reproduction. Additional information on the awards can be found below the release.

The 2023 funding was awarded to the Gulf of Maine Research Institute and Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences to support a deep analysis of population shifts in coastal Maine ecosystems and to compare patterns of epizootic shell disease in lobsters originating from the Gulf of Maine and Southern New England.

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Maine's 2024 American Lobster Research Program Recipients

Changing economic efficiency in the U.S. American lobster fishery and implications for management

Federal funding: $146,784

Project Recipient: Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries

This research provides the needed lobster harvester cost and effort data to assess the economic implications of and adaptations to ecosystem and/or regulatory changes for the Gulf of Maine American lobster industry. Researchers will administer a detailed socio-economic and fishing effort survey to the Maine lobster industry, which will allow the assessment of profit efficiency and harvester operating models for representative year fishing 2024. This project will generate a vital dataset to augment prior survey efforts and create a comprehensive long-term time series of socioeconomic surveys for the Gulf of Maine lobster industry. The results of this project will aid decision-makers and fishermen in their evaluation of proposed conservation and management alternatives as well as their understanding of the impacts of potential gear investments.

Characterizing hormone dynamics in the American lobster to predict molting probability: Insights for addressing knowledge gaps in the molt process

Federal funding: $272,084

Project Recipient: University of Maine

The study aims to develop a novel approach to assess molt probability in American lobsters based on key hormonal indicators. The project team will collect, observe and sample lobsters throughout the molt cycle to gather a suite of biological indicators of molting. These data will be used to inform machine learning to build a predictive model of molt probability that will be subsequently validated by expanded field sampling in year 2 of the project. The overarching goal of this work is to inform growth matrices utilized in the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission American Lobster Stock Assessment process, particularly in the context of rising ocean temperatures.

Characterizing socioeconomic processes and impacts of change in the American lobster fishery

Federal funding: $190,493

Project Recipient: University of Maine

This research project aims to provide timely socioeconomic information to the American lobster industry, science community and managers to inform and support effective decision-making that helps to bolster the resilience of lobster fishing communities in the face of environmental change and economic uncertainty. This project will perform four interconnected activities: 1) integrating socioeconomic indicators of resilience into the American Lobster Stock Assessment process by expanding prior research funded by the American Lobster Initiative; 2)evaluating the socioeconomic implications of past regulatory change on the fishing fleet; 3) creating a rapid-response system to share information generated from the research with interested parties; and 4)providing training opportunities for early career researchers.

Recruitment building blocks: Understanding American Lobster (Homarus americanus) growth and environmental effects during the first year

Federal funding: $360,853

Project Recipient: Maine Department of Marine Resources

This research will expand and reexamine aspects of the Maine Department of Marine Resource's Larval Lobster Survey and Lobster Settlement Survey. Within the Larval Survey, researchers plan to expand seasonally and also collect additional environmental and biological data. Researchers will adapt and test a novel tagging method in small lobsters collected on the survey to understand how fast they grow during their first year of life. The data collected from the Larval Survey and the tagging experiments will be used to model the underlying mechanisms influencing lobster growth and will quantify if any phenological shifts have occurred that impact the Settlement Survey. The findings will provide critical data to inform estimates of recruitment developed through the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission Lobster Stock Assessment process.

The role of foraging and diet in determining energetic availability for female lobsters

Federal funding: $187,954

Project Recipient: Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve

In American lobsters and other crustacean species, evidence suggests that not all eggs are created equal. Larger eggs often lead to more successful larvae. Nutritional condition is indicative of the amount of energy available for investment in growth or reproduction yet is currently overlooked in many studies of lobster populations. This research will conduct a series of field-based studies to better understand the causes of differences in nutritional condition for female lobsters and consequently the energy available for investment in growth and reproduction. Researchers will determine whether lobster activity and foraging are constrained by other species present and how lobster nutritional conditions may vary between areas as a result. The results will fill important knowledge gaps and contribute to more comprehensive parameterization of models used in stock assessments, especially those pertaining to egg production.

Maine's 2023 American Lobster Research Program Recipients

Ecosystem regime shifts and American lobster populations

Federal funding: $284,274

Project Recipient: Gulf of Maine Research Institute

Distinct oceanographic, ecosystem and American lobster population regimes have been characterized, yet relationships between these regimes have not been analyzed to understand how broader ecosystem conditions may be driving shifts in lobster populations. Through this project, the researchers will develop a deep analysis of regime shifts in the Northeast Shelf and coastal Maine ecosystems to understand 1) how changes in lobster populations align with and are related to oceanographic and broader ecosystem drivers, 2) whether observed regimes represent tipping points to new stable states, and 3) indicators of a potential shift out of the current high-lobster state in the Gulf of Maine. Better understanding regime-like population responses and behaviors has important implications for assessing stocks, managing the fishery, and planning for climate adaptation and resilience in the fishery and associated communities.

In hot water? Predicting how shifting temperatures and molting phenologies will impact regional patterns of epizootic shell disease in American lobster

Federal funding: $499,250

Project Recipient: Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences

The investigators will compare patterns of epizootic shell disease in lobsters originating from the Gulf of Maine and Southern New England. Experimental results will 1) inform whether patterns of epizootic shell disease in response to temperature are fundamentally different between the Gulf of Maine and Southern New England lobsters and 2) provide potential population-specific calibrations for the parameterization of the mathematical model. To examine in-situ regional differences among lobster afflicted by epizootic shell disease and their relation to seasonal changes in sea bottom temperature over time, the authors will also analyze long-term monitoring datasets (2001-2023) collected by state agencies coupled with observed and modeled sea bottom temperature data. The core outcome of this work is to collaborate with industry and fisheries managers to produce, validate and communicate projections of epizootic shell disease risk, thereby improving the capacity of the fishery to plan for a likely imminent, climate-induced threat.

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