Long Island Sound Lobster Die-OffThe Perfect Storm of Factors

Contributing to the Demise of A Major Shell fishing Industry on Long Island

Lobster Background

• Lobsters are Crustaceans, in the Phylum Arthropoda (insects)

• Lobsters are benthic and breathe through gills.

• Lobsters prefer temperatures of 20-21ºC (68-70ºF)

• Lobsters are scavengers, who live in rock holes & crevasses in the seafloor

Lobsters take 7 years to mature

Limiting Factors Play a Role

• Oxygen is at times limited in prime lobster habitat.– Can you think of when & why

this might be?

• Temperature is at times limited in prime lobster habitat.– Can you think of when & why

this might be?

Where do you think scavengers frequently find themselves when they’re

scavenging for food in the LIS?

What might the problem be if you

were a lobster caught here

at the wrong time of the year?

A Changing Habitat

• At the time of the Lobster Die-Off in 1999:– lobsters had been exposed to the high end of their

temperature tolerance for an extended period of time

– As oxygen levels decreased, anaerobic bacteria took over (giving off ammonia & sulfides)

– Hurricane Floyd and other storms caused an extremely big jump in runoff from coastal areas (can you guess what “extra” component was in the runoff this year?)

Panic!!!! Spray for Mosquitoes!!

Where do you think the sprays in coastal areas

ended up?

What does West Nile Virus (WNV) have to do with Lobsters?

• In response to public concern about mosquitoes carrying WNV, officials approved of spraying our island with pesticides that were intended to kill the mosquitoes.

• Unfortunately, pesticides don’t just seek out their intended target and then disappear.

• Mosquitoes were not the only Arthropods impacted by the sprays we used

Environmental & Economic Implications

• Hundreds of thousands of dead lobsters

• Millions of dollars in losses to the lobster fishing families

What dead lobsters have in common-studies done show. . .

Shell Disease Paramoebas

Further Reading

• NY Times article:http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE7DE123AF934A25753C1A9629C8B63&pagewanted=1