Laboratory comparison of American lobster,Homarus americanus, foraging responses to invasive green crab,Carcinus maenas, and two traditional finfish baits

Abstract

The American Lobster (Homarus americanus) is trapped primarily with finfish baits that are becoming more costly and difficult to acquire as stocks dwindle. Thus, alternative bait options should be considered. We made video recordings of lobster foraging responses in the laboratory to compare the attractiveness of the invasive green crab (Carcinus maenas) bait, two traditional finfish baits and an inert control. Solitary lobsters approached and handled all three biological baits with similar latencies and spent similar time in contact with the biological baits. In contrast, lobsters took longer to approach and handle, and spent significantly less time in contact with control bait. As green crabs were statistically indistinguishable in attractiveness from traditional baits in our laboratory setting, we suggest field trials should test this alternate bait in circumstances more directly relevant to the fishery.

Quantifying factors influencing American lobster (Homarus americanus) predation on the invasive green crab (Carcinus maenas) in Newfoundland, Canada

“…The Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans is looking at ways to limit the effects of green crab populations on native species; our studies suggest that lobster predation will not mitigate those effects. Laboratory studies have shown that lobsters exhibit no significant differences in preference between traditional finfish bait and crushed green crab (Ryan, Livingstone, Barry, James, & Wyeth, 2014), and green crab is currently being used as a lobster bait by some harvesters in Nova Scotia (Deese & Arnold, 2014). In addition, Hancock (1974) observed that dead decapods effectively repel live conspecifics, which suggests that dead green crabs might deter other green crabs from entering the trap.…”

Identification of A Novel Antibacterial Peptide from Atlantic Mackerel belonging to the GAPDH-Related Antimicrobial Family and Its In Vitro Digestibility

“…Mackerel fishing pressure doubled between 2009 and 2015, mainly due to the wide distribution, from eastern to western North Atlantic, and the abundance of this pelagic fish. If mackerel fishing is appreciable, by contrast, the utility of this fish remains largely untapped, as it is mainly used as a source of food for human consumption or as bait for crustacean fishery [2]. Moreover, during processing, 30% to 50% of the total mackerel biomass is discarded and remains unexploited.…”