Citizen science aids Norwegian lobster conservation

Citizen science aids Norwegian lobster conservation. Data collection through citizen science works well when measuring the effects of marine conservation, according to the results of one project in Norway. For several years, volunteer citizen scientists have followed similar mapping methods as marine scientists in southern Norway. With traps, they have fished lobster in both the conservation area and the reference area, measured and released the lobster again. This means that scientists now have more information about the protected areas for lobster. Petter Torgan, a master’s student at NTNU, has analysed the effects of the lobster conservation areas based on solid data, which is the result of an enormous effort from countless enthusiasts over many years. “Data collection through citizen science works well when measuring the effects of marine conservation on lobster. The lobster is both larger and more numerous in all protected areas compared to reference areas,” he says. “The ...