UK lobster stocks new project to ensure genetic diversity

UK Lobster Stocks New Project to Ensure Genetic Diversity A new project will monitor hatchery-reared lobsters to ensure wild populations in UK waters remain genetically diverse. Lobsters are routinely bred and released to boost populations and allow sustainable fishing. However, genetic management of hatchery-reared species is often overlooked – so the young animals released may be genetically unrepresentative of wild stocks. The new project, called Genetic Management of Lobster Releases (GEMALOR), aims to ensure that hatchery-reared juvenile lobsters remain fully representative of local stocks. GEMALOR is a collaboration between the University of Exeter and the National Lobster Hatchery (NLH), Cornwall, UK. It is supported by a £298,000 award from the UK government’s Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) under the Fishing Industry Science Partnership (FISP) scheme. “When genetic management is overlooked, population enhancement has had the unwanted side effects ...