2 December 2019
Since the start of the Darwin Plus 077 Lobster Project 14 months ago, the Environment, Natural Resources & Planning Directorate’s Marine Conservation team has been working hard to gather as much information as possible on the local lobsters.
To date, around 1200 lobsters have been tagged with plastic tags to get more information on how fast they grow. Around 50 different sites with depths down to 20m have been explored around the Island looking at the abundance and density of the lobsters. This will give the Marine Conservation team information on how many lobsters there are in each area to help estimate how many lobsters there are in St Helena’s waters.
Since August 2019, an acoustic grid has been installed to track the movements of 25 lobsters over the period of one year and, in October 2019, the team has started to deploy lobster pots on a regular basis around the Island. The lobster pots will help the team to get information on lobsters in areas where it is difficult to dive and increase the number of caught slipper (stump) lobsters from deeper waters.
The pots will be used for the next eight months so if you see them please leave them undisturbed as they are very important for this project. The team has noticed that some of the pots have been tampered with and some have been lost. If you see or find any of them please contact the team via tel: 22270 or email: Remi.bruneton@sainthelena.gov.sh.
#StHelena #DarwinPlus #LobsterProject #Lobsters #MarineConservation
SHG
2 December 2019