Moulted Crawfish showing beautiful new shell

Below are some pictures of our amazing Crawfish after moulting its shell, revealing a bright new beautiful carapace.

Crawfish, as well as many other shellfish, moult their shell (exo-skeleton) in order to keep up with their rate of growth. It's a bit like a child, that needs to buy new clothes as they grow - the crawfish crawl out of their old shell to reveal a brand new bigger shell which fits them.

After moulting, shellfish are very soft and therefore vulnerable, the process also uses up a lot of energy and vital resources, and one tasty and nutritious way of them to replenish themselves is by eating the moulted shell afterwards!  The old shell is full of calcium carbonate which helps the crawfish to harden his new shell.

You can probably see our crawfish closely guarding its shell, which has since faded greatly in comparison with its shiny new orange exo-skeleton.

LAST CHANCE TO BUY A RAFFLE TICKET

The draw will take place on 24th Sept 2012 to win a

luxury two night break in Rock

to include breakfast. Your stay will include 1 round of golf at St Enodoc Golf Course, spa treatment at The Cow Shed Spa at St Moritz Hotel, lunch at No. 1 Rock Road Restaurant. Then to finish it off a 3 course meal at No. 1 Rock Road with a bottle of Vintage Laurent-Perrier Champagne. Only £1 a ticket for the chance of winning this fantastic prize. You can either buy on-line through our Little Shop of Lobsters or over the phone.

Thank you to James & Rhowan from No. 1 Rock Road who very kindly donated this prize.

FIRST GREAT WESTERN TO SUPPORT MARINE CONSERVATION, EDUCATION AND RESEARCH CHARITY

First Great Western is supporting the work of Padstow based charity, ‘The National Lobster Hatchery’.

The rail company has offered to provide ten free tickets to the organisation to enable it to develop and grow. The tickets will allow staff of the charity to attend meetings in London in order to increase the charity’s outputs and raise much needed funds.

General Manager; Dominic Boothroyd said “We are truly grateful for the support of First Great Western. This gift is a huge help at a time when charities everywhere need that little extra support. It will allow us to attend meetings around the country, at no extra cost and so allow us to grow as an organisation. Ultimately this will help us to deliver more of our marine conservation, research and education outputs to the regions coastal communities”.

The charity is going through a period of development at the moment with a significant increase in its capacity to raise juveniles, with the addition of new hatchery equipment and plans to enhance its educational out-reach. The charity is also driving forward its programme of research with some significant projects taking place at the moment.

James Davis from First Great Western had this to say:

“First Great Western is privileged to provide services from London Paddington to some of the county’s leading destinations. Our lines in Cornwall are symbolic of that, offering passengers easy access to the capital or to stations across the south west – and the ability to work or make that vital phone call as they travel. First Great Western is committed to playing an active part in the communities we serve. We are delighted to be able to sponsor the Lobster Hatchery and hope that we can help ensure that their valuable work continues.”

First Great Western has one of the largest and most complex rail networks in the UK, carrying one and a half million passengers every week on 9,000 services, and calling at 276 stations. They are the only UK rail company to operate High Speed Inter-city, commuter, regional and sleeper services and provide fast and frequent commuter services for the M4 corridor, the Thames Valley and Newbury and Oxford routes and operate services in the South West, providing local commuter and leisure services and the key longer distance routes from Cardiff to Portsmouth.

Volunteer Opportunities at the National Lobster Hatchery

Want to do your bit to help sustainability of lobster stocks in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly?  The National Lobster Hatchery currently has some exciting volunteer opportunities available.

We require:

• Assistant hatchery technicians (Saturday, Sunday, and Monday)

Duties include:

Feeding post larvae, juveniles, broodstock, and aquarium exhibits.

Cleaning tanks.

Water quality/chemistry checks.

Assisting with the husbandry of brood stock

This position comes with the chance to help on releases from the beach/ fishing vessels.

A qualification in a relevant science which includes issues of sustainability and fisheries management preferred but not essential.

• Visitor centre assistants (week days/ weekends during the busy summer season)

Duties include:

Greeting the general public.

Answering questions/queries from the public about the work undertaken at the hatchery.

Retail and aspects of sale.

Data entry for gift aid

Other tasks required.

This position requires basic computer knowledge and references to be provided.

• Fundraisers for events (mainly weekends)

Duties include:

Conversing with the general public about the important work that is undertaken at the hatchery.

Making the public aware they can become “Friends of the hatchery” to show their support.

Applicants for this position must be friendly, approachable and confident.

• Maintenance person

Duties include:

General maintenance and painting

Clearing and sweeping.

Painting the outside and inside of the hatchery.

Helping hatchery staff with modifications to the hatchery system.

The National Lobster Hatchery is proud to announce that it has received funding from Cornwall Development Company to enable an equal opportunities volunteering scheme to be run during 2012-2013. This scheme gives unemployed persons living in Cornwall a chance to get a foot back on the employment ladder by acquiring new and interesting skills with us at the Hatchery.

If you would like to apply for any of the volunteering opportunities above please send a copy of your CV, a covering letter and your available dates to our Volunteer Co-ordinator at: beth@nationallobsterhatchery.co.uk

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Lobster Hatchery Summer Raffle

Following the success of last year, we are very fortunate to be able to offer another fantastic raffle prize. We are very grateful to Jamie & Rhowan Yoki of No. 1 Rock Road Restaurant in Rock, Cornwall who have donated our star prize:

A LUXURY WEEKEND BREAK IN ROCK FOR TWO

A 2 night luxury break in an award winning location to include breakfast, 1 round of golf at St Enodoc Golf Course (overlooking the beautiful Camel estuary), a spa treatment at the Cow Shed at the St Moritz Hotel, a 3 course meal at the new No. 1 Rock Road Restaurant with Vintage-Laurent-Perrier champagne and lunch at No. 1 Rock Road Restaurant.

Tickets are available through our ‘Little Shop of Lobsters’

A Lovely Quote from Trip Advisor

Okay, so I already had a soft spot for the humble lobster, both as an animal (with their "flippy flappy antennae") and served as a dish. This has always troubled me as I feel guilty for eating these fabulous creatures but at the same time love seafood. So, cue the National Lobster Hatchery. Pregnant mummy lobsters are brought in by fishermen and their eggs reared, and then released back into the wild. Baby lobsters are teensy, basically plankton, and everything in the sea will happily eat them. Only a tiny percent (maybe 1 in 20,000) make it to adulthood. At the hatchery, the larval stages are cared for and reared until they get to 2-3cm long. Then they are taken back to the sea and carefully released to give them the best possible chance. This raises survival rates to tens of percent. You can see the pregnant female lobsters, lobsters in their tiny larval stages up to the 2-3cm stage (all in separate little cubicles to stop them cannabilising each other) just before they are released. There is a wealth of information, some adult lobsters to oooh and ahhh at and the opportunity to sponsor a lobster for £2.50. You can pick it's name and everything (mine is called Lancelot)! You get a certificate and a fact sheet. Great for kids. It IS small, but also perfectly formed. I think that ethically it is fantastic and really genuinely deserves to be supported. An hour after my wander round the Hatchery I passed the lobster 'holding pool' for Rick Stein's lobsters, but instead of feeling just guilt, I actually felt inspired by the work done in the quayside attraction I'd just visited. I am now supporting the hatchery monthly by direct debit (in addition to my adoption) and I'll certainly be going back. The lady at the cash desk was so grateful I was signing up to give them £5/month it was actually quite touching. These people clearly really believe in what they're doing, and so do I. Brilliant.

Jo, West London 12th April 2012

To add your review on trip advisor click on this link

Extra claws for a worthy cause…

Mutant three-clawed crab is set to join Padstow’s National Lobster Hatchery.

The National Lobster Hatchery,is eagerly anticipating the arrival of a unique three-clawed crab. The remarkable crab which proudly displays an extra pair of pincers on one of its legs was hauled in by fisherman Craig Robinson, who was fishing off the coast of Swanage in Dorset. On spotting the crab’s bizarre extra claw, Craig alerted the National Lobster Hatchery who were delighted to be able to offer a home to the mutant crustacean, amongst their own display of sea creatures.

Fisherman Craig said ‘I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw three claws on the crab, especially as the extra one was on the end of an individual leg, rather than protruding from an already existing claw. What’s even more incredible is that all three claws are fully functional, so it must have a pretty good advantage over other crabs”

The three-clawed crab is currently being housed at the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS) and will be escorted to its new home on Padstow’s South Quay, by Lobster Hatchery Trustee, Dr Grant Stentiford. Dr Stentiford is delighted with the new addition and comments “Crabs along with other crustaceans are in fact capable of re-growing limbs that have been lost or damaged, so it could be the case this crab’s regeneration mechanism has got a little confused as to what it was replacing!”

The National Lobster Hatchery’s visitor centre attracts around 40,000 visitors a year and staff believe this unusual addition will cause a real stir amongst the public, especially with all three claws in working order. The National Lobster Hatchery’s Dr Carly Daniels said: "It is certainly unusual to find crustaceans with extra claws, especially one protruding from an individual leg socket. We can't be certain as to how it came about; it could be the result of a genetic mutation or environmental factors. Either way a three-clawed crab will certainly make an eye-catching addition to the National Lobster Hatchery”

The three-clawed crab, who is a female of the edible crab species, will be arriving at the National Lobster Hatchery in April 2012, so visitors can soon view this unique creation of nature for themselves. You may have to pincer yourself to believe it though!