3,156 baby lobsters released on the Isles of Scilly

Following the success of last years’ release of 1,000 lobsters between Bryher and Tresco we jumped at the chance of doing another  release; only this time, our biggest release on record with 3,156 beautiful little lobsters.  The interesting thing is that these baby lobsters have spent the last few months growing in our new Aquahive (our state-of-the-art lobster housing) and the colouration and vigour of these lobsters was really striking.

At 5.30 this morning, the lobsters were packed up (still in their individual cells so they don’t eat each other!) and transported to Penzance; loaded onto the Scillonian and shipped across to the Isles of Scilly.  Steve Watt, the Maritime Officer for the Isles of Scilly Inshore Fisheries & Conservation Authority (IFCA) met Charlie, Carly and the lobsters to take them over to meet the divers. Dave McBride and Tim Alsop organised the dive for us and delivered the lobsters by hand to the seabed on the east side of St Mary’s.

I have just spoken with Carly and she says the release was very successful; it’s just the team that were recovering from hyperthermia, the early start, the radio interviews and TV appearances!

Thank you once again to the Isles of Scilly Steamship Company and Hell Bay Hotel who have sponsored the release and helped organise the trip. They have also offered a raffle prize for our summer raffle of

A LUXURY TWO NIGHT BREAK ON THE ISLES OF SCILLY FOR TWO ADULTS

WITH SKYBUS FLIGHTS FROM EITHER LANDS END OR NEWQUAY AIRPORTS

STAYING FOR TWO NIGHTS DINNER BED & BREAKFAST

AT THE MAGNIFICENT HELL BAY HOTEL, BRYER, ISLES OF SCILLY

You can purchase raffle tickets over the phone on 01841 533877

Stained glass lobster window proudly in place

Our beautiful stained glass window is proudly in place now, in memory of the late Dr Eric Edwards, a long standing Trustee of the Lobster Hatchery. Eric's career as a fisheries scientist span over 50 years and included employment with the Ministry of Fisheries as a Principal Scientific Officer, then Director of the Shellfish Association of Great Britain for 18 years, to working part-time as the Fisheries Consultant to the Worshipful Company of Fishmongers in the City of London. He was a visiting Professor in Fisheries & Aquaculture at Queen's University, Belfast (2002-2005) and Vice President of the Shellfish Association.

Following the official naming of the 'Eric Edwards Room' here at the Hatchery, Gaynor Edwards (his daughter) decided to create this stained glass window to hang in the window. I'm told window stickers of the design are being printed as we speak which Gaynor wishes to donate to the hatchery in order to raise funds towards our marine conservation work. When they arrive they will be available through our on-line shop.

To see Gaynor's other pieces of art you can check out her facebook account on http://www.facebook.com/pages/Spiral-House-Design/133929156685786

Baby lobsters galore and record releases

 

Another 10,000 larvae hatched last night. We have released 7,400 juvenile lobsters to date. We’re releasing another 1,500 tomorrow and 3,000 next week at the Isles of Scilly! How good is that! These baby lobsters were born last night (photo on left), I asked them to stop moving for the photo shoot but they weren’t having any of it!

The photo on the right is what they look like close up.

Customer Feedback

I’ve just emptied the customer feedback box and thought I would share some of the lovely comments people have made.  I can honestly say there was only one negative feedback form in a pile of 40 and it sounds like he came in when we were renovating a couple of the tanks – so apologies for that.  So these are some of the things people have said:

A little gem of a place!

My son is lobster crazy and this place made him explode with excitement.

Absolutely loved it, will definitely be back.

Loving the lobsters.

So cool!

Wonderful to find out that local fishermen work alongside the scheme.

Being an ex-crawfish diver, in 60’s, 70’s & 80’s, its nice to see you sustaining.

My 7 year old daughter loved it.  Its a shame it can’t be bigger.  You should ask for funding to make it bigger, it is fab.  (We’re working on it!)

Very interesting and informative.  Good to see you support and promote your fishermen and sustainable fishing – WELL DONE!

This was a great visit especially for our 6 year old daughter who loved it and now understands about sustainability.

Having completed the developments over the winter we are really pleased with the visitor centre.  Over the last 5 years we have really maximised the potential of the space we have down there and it works better than ever.

Cage Culture Research Project underway

Emily Miles, from the University of Exeter, has started preparations for her Masters Project looking at cage culture for juvenile lobsters. This involves growing the lobsters from stage IV onwards in submerged cages in the sea as opposed to in the hatchery. Once in the water, they will be self-sufficient feeding from the biofouling on the cages, requiring no maintenance/cleaning of the cages and will be better equipped to deal with the environment once they are released.

The post-larval lobsters are currently growing in the hatchery and will undergo an intermediate phase to acclimatise them to lower sea water temperatures. The cages are already in place at two sites in the Fal estuary and at sea, fouling up (this means the cages will start to get encrusted with algae, barnacles and other organisms that will provide a source of food for the lobsters) before the lobsters are put into individual compartments to prevent them fighting.

This project is going to be really important for us at the hatchery, because the lobsters that are grown on in the sea cages will be compared in terms of diet, health, growth and survival rates, to the control lobsters that will remain in the hatchery for the same period of time and fed by us. If the cage culture is successful it could be the way forward for us long term and it would mean that we could grow on lobsters up to a year old thus to a more suitable release size for little economic and maintenance costs, compared to 3 months old that we tend to release at now.

THE BIG SWIM CORNWALL 7th AUGUST 2011

Registration is open for this lovely event, if you fancy the challenge of a one mile wild swim from Port Gaverne to Port Isaac.  Make a day of it, there’ll be plenty of entertainment, live music, food to sample and pubs at hand following the swim.

The official website is www.thebigswimcornwall.co.uk and you can register and pay on-line through our website Little Shop of Lobsters

See you there, fingers crossed for perfect weather conditions!

Latest research on shelter preference in juvenile lobsters

Alex Ferguson from University of Exeter, from the Conservation and Bio-diversity Masters Degree and Dan Brewer, from Cornwall College, from the Marine Aquaculture Foundation Degree are embarking on a joint project to look at shelter preference in juvenile lobsters.  Trials are underway and the baby lobsters are settling into their preferred shelter.  Alex and Dan have set up three different shelters, using scallop shells, pebbles and 20mm sections of pipe. 

The pebbles are looking more popular at the moment!