The project was set up in 1989 to enhance an already dwindling natural population found around the coast of Anglesey. In the last 30 years this population has been reduced by at least 80% due mainly to overfishing. As lobsters reach sexual maturity at about 10 years old but reach marketable size in only 7 years, you can quickly grasp the problem.

The project aims were to release about 500 juvenile lobsters each year and since it began the Anglesey Sea Zoo has released over 2,500 lobsters at various locations along the Menai Strait. The Menai Strait was an ideal location for release due to the unpredictable current making it impossible for commercial lobster fisherman to use pots. This considerably reduces the selection pressure.

Female lobsters carrying eggs under their tail are removed from the wild and housed in special hatching tanks. The eggs hatch in late spring after wich the females are returned to the sea. The 4mm long larvae spend the first 4 weeks in the plankton swimming near the surface (photopositive). This makes them easy to catch in the captive environment and is the main reason for high mortality in the wild. They undergo several moults and their bodies gradually change shape. After 4 weeks they settle on the bottom of the seabed. Groups of individual cells are used as an artificial seabed in the zoo. As the lobsters are highly cannibalistic each is kept seperate from the others for the 12 months they remain in the zoo.

They are fed daily on a highly varied diet to mimic their scavenging life style in the wild. After 12 months they are about 50mm long and are released with the help of scuba diving equipment. Each lobster is then placed into a small crevice or cave. Research caried out to assess the survival rate of released lobsters concluded that about 50% were to be found within the same area after 1 year. As this does not take migration into account the results are promising. The single aim of the project was to enhance the natural population by establishing a stable colony within the Menai Strait, which would then migrate around the coast of Anglesey. In the last 8 years we have made steps in the right direction.

To contact us email: fishandfun@seazoo.demon.co.uk

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