Highlights From TC 02-04 Lobster Research and Tagging
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Highlights from TC 02-04 Lobster tagging and research
Aloha from the Townsend Cromwell!
NOAA ship TOWNSEND CROMWELL is conducting a lobster survey in the
Northwest Hawaiian Islands. The 30 day survey is assessing Maro Reef
and
the shelf surrounding Necker Island. This is a continuing survey,
which began in 1985. Chief Scientist Robert Moffitt
is conducting the
survey with assistance from cooperating scientists from Hawaii Pacific
University as well as
scientists from Canada and Britain.
The scientists and ship's crew set out 160 lobster traps per day
in two different
configurations. These two configurations are set at
separate depths but in the same general area. Each day the traps
are
set in the late afternoon and then recovered early the next morning.
Lobsters that are caught are sized,
gendered and counted, and then
returned to the site where they were caught. The data collected will be
compared
with previous years to determine trends in both the slipper
lobster and spiny lobster populations.
Thus far on the trip, Chief Scientist Robert Moffitt reports spiny
lobster numbers at Maro
Reef are slightly lower than last year, although
the data still shows only a slight recovery from mid 1990’s
lows.
Slipper lobsters on the other hand, show strong numbers that seem to
have peaked in 2001. One highlight of
the cruise, was the record
one-day catch of 13.6 lobsters per trap for a total of over 2,100
lobster for that
day.
An ancillary project of the cruise is collection of fatty acid
samples from fish for use
in research of monk seal diets. These fatty
acid samples are collected by several methods, including bottom
fishing
and trap by-catch. The fish tissue samples collected are frozen on
board to facilitate analysis back at
the Honolulu Laboratory
The ship and crew are working hard to stay on schedule and
complete the survey in time to
return to Honolulu the morning of July
4th.