Page updated on 11/29/07
 

Lobster Health Symposium:
Understanding Disease in American Lobster
 

     The extensive research effort addressing the potential causes of the 1999 lobster mortality event in LIS has reached its culmination.  This research has provided a wealth of new informaiton on how American lobsters interact with their environment, their physiological responses to stressors, and findings on infectious diseases.
     The Lobster Health Symposium’s second series of presentations focused on understanding the effects of disease and stress on American lobster.  Dr. Charley O’Kelly from Bigelow Lab discussed recent findings on infectious diseases in American lobsters.  Jan Robert Factor from SUNY/Purchase College discussed new tools that have been developed to measure the effects of stressors on lobster such as reduced immune function and disrupted hormone systems.  This portion of the agenda concluded with an overview of shell disease outbreaks in southern New England and Nova Scotia.

Host:  Patrice McCarron, Maine Lobstermen’s Assn.