June marked the second year of the Lobster Tagging and Recapture Project being conducted in Vinalhaven waters by Bigelow scientists Rick Wahle and Mike Dunnington, along with Nate Geraldi, a second-year Island Institute Fellow living on Vinalhaven, Corrie Roberts of the Island Institute, and Vinalhaven fishermen.

The project is using a dedicated set of research traps to catch and tag lobsters at regular intervals on study areas around Vinalhaven.

While traps are the best ways to catch lobsters with the least effort, it’s hard to know exactly what the catch tells us about population size and change. Divers can get exact counts of lobsters on the bottom, but much of the lobster population lives well beyond the safe limits of diving. Tags are a great way to track lobster movements and growth, but what do tagging studies tell us about lobster populations?

The goal of this project is to collect and confirm population size and survival data via mark-and-recapture methods and diver counts – critical information for the fishing industry and managers.

The first year of the study was conducted in a one-third square-mile area outside Carvers Harbor, Vinalhaven, from June through September, 2001, using 64 unvented research traps. The traps were set in a grid pattern and checked regularly.

The study is designed to improve trap-based methods of estimating lobster abundance and mortality in the defined area and to obtain information on lobster growth and movement patterns. Since lobster densities depend on bottom type, a secondary objective is to document seabed habitat. The bottom type of each study area has been mapped with sidescan sonar.

Data from year one showed a favorable comparison between trap-based mark-recapture estimates of lobster abundance and diver-based counts. With assistance from harvesters reporting tagged lobsters found in their traps, study participants learned that some lobsters traveled as much as 13 miles to Matinicus, while most stayed within one or two miles of the test site.

In the second year, the project team is working in four sites off the coast of Vinalhaven, tagging lobsters in each site over a two- to three-week period. The flexible yellow or green plastic tags are visible between the lobsters’ carapace and tail, and are differentiated by a five-digit identification number.

Should you catch a lobster wearing such a tag, the team is asking that you call 1-800-339-9209 ext. 125 to report the identification number, date of catch, location, depth, size and whether it has been v-notched, as well as your name and phone number. If you have any questions or comments about the project please call Nate Geraldi at 863-4430 or 594-9209, or Rick Wahle at 633-9659 or visit the interactive map of the project at the Institute’s website: .