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This paper not to be to the author International Council for the CH 1973/K:22 Exploration of the Sea Shellfish and Benthos Committee A review of the lobster fishcry of England and 1-Tales by E. Edwards . " Ministry of A;riculture, Fisheries and Food, Fisheries Laboratory, Burr~am-6n-Crouch, Essex.

Introduction The European lobster (Homarus.Kammarus) is the most valuable species of shellfish landed in, England and Vales. The recorded catch in 1972 totalled .: 8 437 cwt (4'30 tonnes), valued at 1:639 283, representing a quarter of the value of.,all shellfish landed th8t yenr, ~ .' Staff fron the Pinistry'o Fisheries Laboratories at Conwy end Burnham- on-Crouch have studied this species since the early 1950s, with the investiga- ";" . tions beine concentrated off Yo~~shire and Cornwall (Hepper 1959, 1967, 1971) und Uales (Simpson 1958 1 1961). Folloifing 'representutions from various sections of the fishing industry that lobster catches in many parts of the country ,fere decl~ing, thc 11inistry's lobster programnc was expanded in 1972 to cover all the important fishing arens in England and 1-1ales. The main aim of this investigation, w'hich began in April 1'372, is to e:~amine the present state of the fishery and to consider whether additional conservation measures are

required to ensure 0. sustaincd yield. This preliminary programme t-1ill continue for a further year, to be followed by more detailed population studies on the various stocks•

.' ~, . • '. I ",

• ,. The proportion of th~'total lleight of lobsters taken inthree iniportant coastal areas is shovITl in ~~gure 2. Based on an average for,the last 10 years (1962-71),47 per cent of the country's catch has been landed at ports on the east coast between Berwick and HaTItich. During the same period, the south

" coast (Newhaven-Falmouth) landed 23 per cent of the catch, and west eoast and Welsh ports 30.. per cent. Landings on the east coast have declined since 1962; in eontrast, landings have increased at south eoast ports since 1969 following the discovery of new grounds in the Enelish Channel. During this period there has also been a steady increase in the yield from the Welsh coast lobster fishery. Fishing season " The main lobster seoson in Enp:land and "ales is between May 'and September, when 80 per cent of the annual catch is taken. In general, peak landiTIgs oceur , '" d~ringAugust and September: after October, landings in most' areas decline e ," ,:'(Fi~~e 3). ' TABLE 1 RECORDED LOBSTER lAllDINGS liND THEIR VALUE m ENGL.\ND .!\.ND UALES 1962/71

YEAR HEIGHT VALUE AVERAGE VALUE -- (cwt) -(~) (iL per ewt)

1962 '9 225 279 489 30.3 1963 ":':9438 287 232~ 30.4 1964 ' 9400 353 851 37.6 1965 7 824 331 679 42.4 ' 1966 8 240 379 197 46~O 1967 7 611 355585 46.7' 1968 7 302 383 288 52~5 •• 1969 7 547 446 816 .:.59.2

1970 ' " . 9 660 609 595 ;' 63.1 1971 8 871 600 219" , 67.7

Note 1 ewt = 50.8 kg.

Landings and vnlue of the f,i_s]1er;y: . ' The recorded total DnrlURl lobster landings ~nd their v::},ue during the 10-yerr period 1962-71 ere sho't'Tn in T-::ble 1 ~nd Figure 4. ,Fluctuations in l~ndings occurred during this Deriod, p~rticulcrly behreen 19?5 nn~ 1969, when they fell to belo'Vl-cvernge levels. Hore rec~ntlyin1970., nnd 1971, lo.ndings were o.bove average und nearly equ21 t6 the high catches made in th~ early 1960s.

2 These rccent inere~ses in the tot~l e~teh nre the result of the exploitntion of previously lnrgely unfished lobster stocks ~long tho south eonst nnd in the western English Chor~el. Houever, they m~sk the general deeline in entehes nnd enteh per unit of effort vlhieh h~s tnken plnee in thc trnditional lobster fishing arens - pnrtieulnrly on the enst eonst (see Inter seetion ). eateh in relation to effort Reeords of l~~dings aleno,nlthougl1 vnluablo, do not givo n true guide to the state of' a fishcry. The uso of enteh per'unit of effort datn is.more informntive, sinee they uill not be nffeetcd by chnngos in the leyel' of fishing ··~ffört•.. For the period 1961-1972, collcetors of statisties employed by tho Ministry on apart-time bnsis hnve rccorded enteh end effort dntti from many of 'the mnin shellfish ports in England. These dntu ineludo detnils of the number cf trnps hnulcd weekly by c~ch rcgistcred bont nnd the weekly weight of lobsters • lnnded, together with the weight of crabs nnd ernwfish (which ure not eonsidered here ). It is not aluays possiblc to rceord ·these dutn for every,boat.in euch port, but usuall;r the mujority of the fleet -is included. There are, 'howevcr, eertain gn~s in the data pnrtieularlyintho south and west, where it has been diffieult to organize the eollcction of thc rcquircd informntion.' A system involvine theissue of loe-books to solected fishermen l1ho reeord their'own eatch und the numbor of deys fished h~s rcecntly been introdueed in these arens. The fluctuations observed in the lobster enteh per unit of effort duta eollected sinee 1962 nre dineusscd bclow. East eoust The Dost importnnt lobster fishillG nreas are in the eounties of Northumbcrland and Yorkshirc (Figura 1). In reeent yenrs lobster.landings in boththese eonstal regions hnve deelined (Figura 5). Reeorded Inndings at ports ~ . in Yorkshire huve fallen from 2 392 cut in 1965 to 1 212 cwt in 1971, a drop of . 50 per cent. However, dntn eolleeted during this period showed that the effort hnd deelined from 1 869 775 traps hnuled in the 1965 senson to 1 506 504 in . 1971, a fall of 19 per cent. This reduction in the effort in the Yorkshire trnp fishery, vlhieh applies to both lobsters und crubs, is mainly the result of this type of fishing beeoming less profitable for the largervessel: of 15 metres und over. Thc changeover to more profitable types of fishing has also been aecelernted by the development of rrn important trawl fishery in·the area, und :~anyof the larger vensels in this fishery have now·been oquipped with the more p~~crful engines and uinches neeessnry fortrawling. The bulk of the lobster nnd crabcateh in Yorkshire is nml landcd by small open boats bebleen 5 and 10 metres in lcngth, ercued by 2 mcn, 1<1hich are cconomical to rune These facts dembnstrate how the cconomics of fiohing cnn nlter thc level of exploitation on a population and hou importunt it is for the 'invcstigutor to huve'detailed 3 knowledge of ench fishing aren• . Although thc reduction in annunl Inndings of lobsters off,Yorlcshire enn be pnrtly explnined by the substantinl rcduction in effort, ,it does not en,t~rely ,nccount for thc eontinuing declinc, in cntehes (Figure 5) nnd in the cntch per unit cf effort (Figurc 6). In most finhcries n reduction in fishing on n stock lends to an incrense in the cateh "per unit of cffort. However, this may ~,~.~~ , fully apply to a passive' trap fishery, wherc shellfish arc nttraeted into the traps by bait. On first consideration it would appear that fewer traps in an area might reduec the effectiveness of a fishery because pnrts of a stock might remain unexploited. Howcver, lobnter fishermen usually site traps on the most produetive arcns, movinl; them around as grounds become dcpleted" und this \'lOuld help to maintain a fairly stable eateh per unit of effort. Since ,1970 lobster catches 'in,some urens of Yorkshiro havo improved nnd thc numbcr of traps fished has'remnined fairly constantj astate of equilibrium uay therefore have been reaehed. Our continuing programme of investigations into the Yorkshire lobster und erab stoeksis designed to ndd,further to our knowledge of the effeets of • 'exploitation onthis population~ Simiiliarly, in Northumberland thera has been a steady decline in both total lundings (Figure 5) and the eateh per 1.U1it of effort (Figure 6). It is likely that the variouG factorG llhich havo been diGeussed in relation to Yorkshire also apply to this fishery. However, since 1970 thero has boen a slight improvement in landings and catch per unit of effort und this could be tho rCGult of a lower level of fiGhing effort, duo in part to tho purehase by fishermen of larger vesGels for trm'l'ling.' Sotith ~nd west co~stn In contrast to Northumoerland and Yorkshire, landings on the south COGst ,(hctw8en Ncwhaven andF~lmouth) have increased in recent years (Figure 5) follo'dng tho exploitation of several largely unfished lobstor stocks • in the Eriglish ehannel. Hm-Tever. on tho tradit ional inshore grounds thore are signs that heavy fiGhing is rcdueing the fishable Gtock to a level v1hich i8 causing concern. Lobster landings in varioun partn of the WOGt coaGt have also increased; this applies particularly to ~ales, \lhere there has been an increase in fishing effort in the last few years, rcsulting in a substantial inerease in landings (Figure 5). Unfortunately, datn on cnteh perunit of effortare not 'available from 1-Tales; log books \vcro issued to selected fishermen in 1972 and it is hoped to continuG this on an annual basis. Lobster eatehes off Cornwall have fallen in recent yearn und until 1969 there .ras a steady fall in thc cntch per unit of üffort, but this has stabilized in recent years (Figure 6). Discussions Thc rosulto available indicate eonsiderable variation be~ieen the yields from the different lobster fishing arens in England and WaleG. In some arens 4 ------

there is evidence to ohow that catches have declined rapidly in recent years • . In England and i/ales lobsters are usually fished by the smaller inshore vessels in the 6-12 metre cla~s, Vessels of this type have a rcstricted range and usually set thcir traps on grounds adj~cent to their horne port. The use of improved fishing tcchniqucs, including echo-soundinG equipment for.i~entifying focky areas has incrensed the efficiency of lobster fishing, but ha~ reduced the fishable stocks and catches from some traditional Groundshave fallen. In many areas of thc const it is possible that lightly exploited lobster stocks exist outside the grounds normally fished. The traditional attitudes of fishermen often cxcludc these stocks from exploitation, mainly becauso thoir boats ~re often too small to fish those cxposed offohorc areas. At the p~oucnt time in EnClund nnd 1!ales the only national conservation measure enforced is_a minimum legal size limit of 9 inches (230 mm).. The effective cnforcement of this' minimum size is essential if stocks are to produce their ni~x{inum'sustainable yio1.d. IIm'TOver, there are difficulties due to the lack of a standardiz~d method for measuring the total length of a lobster. Apparent . . '. .,~: size differences occur uhen a lobster in measured with the ventral aide upper- most or with the dorsal side uppeTItiost, und according to the inclusion or otheruise of the hairs on the tail fan. rlore important, the total lcngth of a lobster can be extended by up to 5-6 mm simply by stretching the abdomen, which hasa certain elaoticity. All these factors make it difficult for 'finhermen und Fishery Officers to decide wh ether or not lobsters near to the statutory limit satisfy the legal sizo requirements. This leads at some times to the inclusion of large numbers of marginally undersizedlobstors in consignments sent to nhellfish buyers. The absence of n precise method of me~surement, thorefore means that it is very ~ difficult to enforce the ~inimun legal size regulation for lobsters. The PQssibility of introducing the carapace length neasurement - used as the basis forlegal controlin some countries -- in theref0re under consideration. There is evidence of incre~sing fishing effort in inany parts of the country. In same areaS people with full-time employment ashore are purchasing small boats and going lobster ~ishing in their spare time~' This trend is increasing as working hours~of their main employment are reduced. There is a growing.demand by full-time fishcrmen for some restrietion on the activities of these spare-time fishermen. The main arguments put fOI'lvard are that these men already gajn a livL!g ashore 'und the extra fishing effort reduces the catches of tho professionals und may caUSe conservation problems. Furthermore, for obvious reasons, very few spare-time fishermen declare tlleir landings, and details of·their entchen (und nunbcr of traps fished) nre therefore not included in the Ministry's statistics on landings. This can result in an underestimate 5 of the effects of fishing on various stocks. In several countries fishing effort in the lobster fisheries i8 controlled by licensing schemes. This is done cither by Iimiting thc number of Iicences available, by controlling the number of traps'or by restricting the fishing season. No attempts have so far been made in the United Kingdom to manage a lobsterfishery in this ~ay; the recent trend of greater fishing effort and of lower catches indicates that control of fishing effort may soonhave to be considered, at least in some areas. Although General up-to-date information is not available on lobster fisheries in other European countries, there is some evidence to suggest that yields are also declining in other coustal arens in north-west Europe. It may be possible that the lobster population in European watcrs is being adversely influenced by some other factors such as a widespread climatic variation, in addition to the increased intensity of fishing. The value of close liaison between investigators studying the various European lobster stocks must there­ fore be stressed and any information should be pooled, in the hope that • increas~d research will help in the proper manageiller.t of this important inshore resource.

Repper, B.T .1959 Preliminary observations on the growth of lobsters off the north-east coast of England.ICES, C.M. 1959 Doc. No. 104 (mimeo) Repper, B.T.1967 On the growth at moulting of lobsters (Romarus vulgaris) in Cornwall und Yorkshire. J. Mar.biol. Ass. U.K., Vol. 47, ~p 629-643 Repper, B.T.1971 An apIJarent relationship bebleen catch per unit of • effort und temperature III the English lobster fishery. leES C.M. 1971 Doc. No.K:G (mimeo) Simpson L. C. 1958 The lobster fishery of HaIes. Fishery lnvest. Lond., Sero 2 Vol. 22 (3), 33 pp. Simpson A.C.1961 A contribution to the bionomics of the lobster (Romal~s vulgaris Edw.) on the coast of North Wales. Fishery Invest., Lond., Ser 2,Vol. 23 (7), 28 pp.

6 / (' • Holy Island 17 % j Seahouses ./ Boulmer /1 Amble .../ NORTHUMBERLAND Redcar Staithes Whitby .k ~ Scarborough 20 01c ~ Bridlington ° «'

Aberdovey NORFOLK Aberystwyth Newquay ~S ~~

HAMPSHIRE DORSET SUSSEX Portsmouth P00le •• ~._...,.--,. __ • CO Selsey Isle of Wight 20%

a-.

Figure 1. Principal lobster fishing ports in En"gland and Wales, based on catches during the five years 1967-71. The figures are the percentages of the total catch 70 EAST COAST (Berwick- Harwich) 60 50 40 30 20 (/) 10 c::n c= "'C 0 c:: ~ 50 SOUTH COAST (Newhaven- Falmouth) gr:::: 40 r:::: o 30

0 - 20 (1) c::n .....0 10 c:: (1) U L.. 0 (1) 0- 50 WEST COAST (Newlyn - Maryport) 40 • 30 20 10

o 1962 63 64 65 66 67' 68 69 70 71 Figure 2. Percentage of the annual lobster catch tn England and Wales landed in various coastal areas 1962-1971 22 .... 20 - ...-- 18 - 16 - 14 ...... -- C1I ... ..-g' 12 c= C1I ~ 10 C1I - 0.. 8 f- ~ - .... 6 - 4 - - - 2 r 0 r I J FM AMJ JAS 0 ND

Figure 3. Proportions of the E~glish and Welsh tobster catches tanded during each month of the year (based on • catches for 1967 - 1971 ) 10 ,- ()a

9 f- i---

f- 8 - - f- -~ 7 u c:::J 6 f- Cl c:::J r- 5 - oE CI) 4 - Cl oE -c c:: ~ c 3 --' 2 f- - 1 f- 0

(b) 6-

Cl c:::J c:::J 5 - c:::J c:::J r- 4- --_. _.----- f--- . ~ '---f--- oE 3 - -

CI) ~ f- :::l 2 • -' 0 :> 1 f- o, 1962 63 64 65 66 67 -68 69 70 71

Figure 4. (a) Annual recorded lobster landings, England and Wales 1962-1971 (b) Annual values 1962 - 1971 The horizontal lines represent the average for

the period 0 ~ NORTHUMBERLAND 3 2 1

OL...... L..-.a...... -~-----&-....&...---..I-_~--'-----'------'

~ VORKSHIRE 3 ..... 2 3 ~1 • c::::> ~DL..-L.-.L----L..----J'----L-----L._.a...... ---L-----L-.I ...... c:::. .~ ~ Cl) SOUTH COAST 3: 3

2 1

OL..-,L.-..L....--""-----''---....&...---..L.._oL-----L.----L---I

~ WALES 3 2 1

01962 63 6~ 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 Figure 5. Annuol recorded weights of lobsters londed in vorious coostol oreos 1962 -1971 28 q \. 24 \. \, \ -CI) . E"20 \, - b, C) CJ or-- "0"'1', ~ " '\ 16 \ ',-- ~ C- ." " 0_'0 I" \" I '0 Northumberland ..0 \ . \ '\ . - l d • t 12 \ 0 '\ \ -GI \ "-..- \ ..c .....u , Yorkshire t:1 8 , (..,) \ "A, """ '. Cornwall

o 1962 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71

Figure 6. Annual lobster catch per unit eftort, England and Wales 1962 - 1971 (Cornwall - ports 01 Coverack, Cadgwith and Hayle only )