Search results for "Homarus"
showing 10 items of 21 documents
Responses of European lobster (Homarus gammarus) and lobster fishers to protective management
2017
Master's thesis Aquatic Ecology BIO500 - University of Agder 2017 Marine protected areas (MPAs) are valued for their conservation benefits to harvested species. However, potential benefits of MPAs to neighboring fisheries are less well-understood. This study quantifies how the European lobster (Homarus gammarus) and the fishery for this valued catch respond to the establishment of a relatively small (5.2 km2) MPA on the Norwegian Skagerrak coast. A series of yearly standardized trap surveys was conducted to estimate lobster abundance and catch weights both inside and outside the MPA before (2010- 2011) and after the MPA was established (2012-2016). Lobster abundance and catch weights were d…
Lobster and cod benefit from small-scale northern marine protected areas: inference from an empirical before - after control-impact study
2013
Published version of an article from the journal: Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences. Alsop available from the Royal Society: http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2012.2679 Open Access Marine protected areas (MPAs) are increasingly implemented as tools to conserve and manage fisheries and target species. Because there are opportunity costs to conservation, there is a need for science-based assessment of MPAs. Here, we present one of the northernmost documentations of MPA effects to date, demonstrated by a replicated before-after control-impact (BACI) approach. In 2006, MPAs were implemented along the Norwegian Skagerrak coast offering complete protection to shellfish and parti…
Long-term decrease in sex-specific natural mortality of European lobster within a marine protected area
2013
Marine protected areas (MPAs) and marine reserves hold promise as tools for nature conservation and fisheries management, but data on long-term demographic effects are still sparse. Here, we use a unique capture-mark-recapture data set from Kavra, an MPA on the west coast of Sweden where fishing for European lobster Homarus gammarus has been banned since 1989, to directly quantify annual survival probabilities in the absence of harvest mortality. The non-migratory behaviour of this species allowed multiple recaptures and releases of a large num- ber of individuals within the MPA. We found strong evidence for a long-term decrease in sex - specific natural mortality throughout the study perio…
Identification, molecular cloning, and phylogenetic analysis of a non-respiratory pseudo-hemocyanin of Homarus americanus.
1999
Copper-containing hemocyanins serve to transport oxygen in many arthropod species. Here I describe the identification and cDNA cloning of a structurally closely related non-respiratory pseudo-hemocyanin (PHc) of the American lobster, Homarus americanus. This protein has lost the ability to bind copper and, therefore, oxygen because a histidine residue in copper-binding site A is replaced by tyrosine. Like many arthropod hemocyanins, PHc forms a hexamer. It consists of two different subunit types of 660 and 661 amino acids, respectively, that share a 94.4% sequence identity. Whereas Homarus hemocyanin is produced in the hepatopancreas, PHc is synthesized by the ovaries and the heart tissue. …
Lobster reserves as a management tool in coastal waters: Two decades of experience in Norway
2022
9 pages, 4 figures.-- Under a Creative Commons license
Demographic responses to protection from harvesting in a long-lived marine species
2021
Abstract Marine protected areas (MPAs) are usually considered to have positive effects on the recovery of over-exploited populations. However, resolving the extent to which MPAs function according to their conservation goals requires that essential demographic information such as individual survival and population size are quantified. To this end, we analyzed a 16-year replicated mark-recapture study on European lobster (Homarus gammarus, n = 8793) conducted at several protected and unprotected sites in southern Norway, quantifying the impact of MPAs on local population dynamics by means of a “before-after control-impact” study approach (BACI). Lobster survival and abundance were estimated …
Genotype Reconstruction of Paternity in European Lobsters (Homarus gammarus)
2015
Decapod crustaceans exhibit considerable variation in fertilisation strategies, ranging from pervasive single paternity to the near-ubiquitous presence of multiple paternity, and such knowledge of mating systems and behaviour are required for the informed management of commercially-exploited marine fisheries. We used genetic markers to assess the paternity of individual broods in the European lobster, Homarus gammarus, a species for which paternity structure is unknown. Using 13 multiplexed microsatellite loci, three of which are newly described in this study, we genotyped 10 eggs from each of 34 females collected from an Atlantic peninsula in the south-western United Kingdom. Single recons…
A STUDY OF POPULATION GENETICS IN THE EUROPEAN LOBSTER, HOMARUS GAMMARUS (DECAPODA, NEPHROPIDAE)
2001
By means of an RAPD analysis, the degree of genetic variation in the European lobster, Homarus gammarus, was assessed. We focused our attention on the Helgoland population, which is isolated by its geographical location. By comparison with seven other European lobster populations we demonstrated that the Helgoland lobster is genetically widely separated from other European lobster stocks. However, all populations investigated showed high values of genetic distance, indicating that genetic exchange among European populations of Homarus gammarus may be restricted. The European lobster populations appeared to be isolated by distance since the pattern of genetic relationships reflects their geo…
Harvesting changes mating behaviour in European lobster
2018
Removing individuals from a wild population can affect the availability of prospective mates and the outcome of competitive interactions, with subsequent effects on mating patterns and sexual selection. Consequently, the rate of harvest‐induced evolution is predicted to be strongly dependent on the strength and dynamics of sexual selection, yet there is limited empirical knowledge on the interplay between selective harvesting and the mating systems of exploited species. In this study, we used genetic parentage assignment to compare mating patterns of the highly valued and overexploited European lobster (Homarus gammarus) in a designated lobster reserve and nearby fished area in southern Nor…
Protected areas buffer against harvest selection and rebuild phenotypic complexity
2020
14 pages, 6 figures, 4 tables.-- This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited