Activity patterns of wild European lobster Homarus gammarus in coastal marine reserves: implications for future reserve design

Abstract

European lobster Homarus gammarus in Norway has been in decline over the last 30 to 40 yr, and the species is currently red listed according to International Union for Conservation of Nature criteria. In 2006, experimental lobster reserves were established in the coastal Skagerrak, southern Norway, allowing for studies in the absence of disturbance by fishing gear. We present behavioural data from individual lobsters (n = 10) within 2 of the reserves. These data were obtained from data storage tags which logged in situ temperature and depth of specific individuals for up to 1 yr. To the best of our knowledge, these are the first direct measurements of depth obtained from freely behaving lobsters. Net movement exhibited by recaptured lobsters, measured as the distance between global positioning system positions recorded at the site of capture and recapture ranged from 15 to 580 m. Lobsters used habitats within a depth range of 1 to 57 m, and experienced sea temperatures ranging from 2°C during late winter (February to March) to 18°C during late summer (August to September). Lobster activity levels declined from September, reaching a minimum during February and March. From April, activity levels resumed. Seasonal variation in activity was correlated to water temperature (r 2 = 0.55). Lobsters were more active during nighttime than during daytime, and there was a tendency for lobsters to reside in more shallow water during nighttime versus daytime. The present study suggests that future reserves for European lobster should be designed to include deeper habitat (30 to 50 m) in areas where such habitat exists when the management objective is long-term protection.

The science of European marine reserves: Status, efficacy, and future needs

“…These studies estimated that approximately 7% of the lobster population protected in this reserve migrated annually to the adjacent fished grounds, with an annual spillover contribution to the commercial catch (by weight) of 31-43%. In contrast, acoustic tracking of both fish and decapod species within reserves showed high site fidelity [53,[65][66][67][68][69][70]. Such studies show that some individuals are highly sedentary, while others show more mobility (e.g.…”

“…[67,68,71,112]). Although such knowledge is currently lacking for most marine species, it is crucial in forecasting potential impacts of marine reserves in nearby exploited areas.…”

Effects of temperature on the moulting and locomotory activity of hatchery-reared juvenile lobsters (Homarus gammarus) at Helgoland (North Sea)

“…Migration speed and distance, and accordingly catchability, of adult lobsters is related to seasonal changes in temperature (McLeese & Wilder 1958;Koeller 1999) and several other environmental variables (light, wave height, current velocity, turbidity) (Ennis 1984;Karnofsky et al 1989;Smith et al 1998, Moland et al 2011a). Furthermore, locomotory activity of nocturnal lobsters of Homarus spp.…”

Directional preference of European lobster (Homarus gammarus) movements on the Yorkshire Coast

“…The European lobster, Homarus gammarus (Linnaeus 1758) has been proposed as a favourable candidate for these spatial systems, as the species is considered to exhibit a strong site fidelity and are a main target species for concentrated static pot fisheries (Moland et al 2011;Smith et al 2001;Bannister et al 1994). …”

“…However movement patterns of H. gammarus are relatively unknown with behavioural inferences mainly drawn from small scale experimentation, short-term assessments or historic trials (Skerrit et al 2013;Moland et al 2011;Bannister et al 1994;Hepper 1978). This communication outlines a significant observation of H. gammarus movements from a mass tag and recapture programme, identifying that movements within the study stock were subject to directional preferences.…”