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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 information on how
American lobsters interact with their environment, their physiological
responses to stressors, and findings on infectious diseases. This research
has also led to the development of new tools to detect pesticide levels.
The Lobster Health Symposium’s last series of
presentations focused on understanding the effects of pesticides on American
lobsters and the role of pesticides in the 1999 LIS die-off. Dr. Michael
Horst from Mercer University School of Medicine presented findings on the
effects of pesticides in American lobster including the concentrations of a
variety of pesticides that cause both lethal and sub lethal effects in
lobsters of different age classes. Robin Landeck Miller described the
modeling exercises used to determine the amount of pesticides present in
Long Island Sound at the time of the die-off, based on pesticide
applications used to combat West Nile virus mosquitos.
The Lobster Health Symposium concluded with a panel
discussion on where we go from here. There has been a wealth of information
and knowledge created as a result of these extensive research efforts. What
does all this mean to Maine? Attendees learned about some new initiatives
which built on this research, and shared their ideas on what they thought
Maine should be doing to avoid a fishery disaster in the future.
Host: Patrice McCarron, Maine
Lobstermen’s Assn. |
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