Introducing the Service Unit

The majority of the AVC Lobster Science Centre’s research is focused in the areas of lobster and other crustacean health. Stress from lobster harvesting and handling has been blamed for productivity losses in the lobster industry while disease outbreaks within post-harvest holding facilities are not uncommon. However, these occurrences are rarely investigated. Having a Service Unit that could respond to, and investigate these disease outbreaks is vital to the economic sustainability of the lobster industry. The AVC Lobster Science Centre’s Service Unit has three major components: Health Management, Lobster Health Emergency Response, and Education.

Health Management
The Service Unit is available to those wishing to establish a Health Management program at their facilities. Health management is a term describing the use of management practices designed to prevent disease or stress with the goal to increase productivity. Health management programs are well established in other livestock industries, with proven benefits to producers. Such programs can also be applied to lobsters. Successful health management should involve prevention of disease or elimination of risk factors contributing to disease, rather than treatment. Ideally, prevention of lobster disease would be accomplished through selection of healthy lobsters, good water quality management, meticulous grading for optimal health, nutrition, and sanitation.

Lobster Health Emergency Response
The Service Unit is available for rapid scientific response to lobster health problems by investigating and analysing lobster diseases and production problems. Ultimately, the service unit will be a vehicle to evaluate techniques and tests developed in the laboratory under field conditions.

Education
The Service Unit has an educational role in the form of health management programs by introducing husbandry practices designed to reduce stress levels, a common cause of decreased productivity and increased mortality. This educational component applies to lobster holding and handling at all levels of the industry.

The Service Unit acts as the liaison between the different sectors of the lobster industry and the AVCLSC providing an effective means to exchange information. Through its hands-on approach, the AVCLSC is increasing the awareness of lobster research via on-going communication and education of various segments of the lobster industry. This can be achieved via strategic workshops, on-site training, conferences & symposia or one-on-one interactions. The overall purpose of these programs and services is to increase awareness of lobster health issues among all stakeholders of the lobster industry.

The aim of AVCLSC’s Service Unit is to investigate production losses or lobster mortalities within live-holding facilities, live shippers, processors, harvesters, retailers, or requests from government representatives to investigate wild or post-harvest lobster health issues.

For more information contact:
Jean Lavallée, Clinical Scientist
Email: jlavallee@upei.ca
Tel: 902 628-4392

ATLANTIC LOBSTER MOULT AND QUALITY PROJECT - UPDATE
LFAs 33/34 Moult & Quality Monitoring Project November 2008 Update

The sampling being done in these new locations is the same sampling that has been occurring since 2004 in LFAs 33 and 34 (Southwest Nova Scotia). Lobster quality is variable at different times of the year, with a number of factors affecting it. Understanding the factors that influence lobster quality is essential to the sustainability and health of the lobster industry

To better understand quality, continuous and annual sampling regimes are required. This sampling will allow scientists at the Lobster Science Centre to monitor the lobster moult cycle, which has a direct effect on quality. It also enables them to perform health comparisons among different sites throughout the year by measuring moult stages, coupled with several blood parameters.

As of October 2008 there have been close to 69,000 lobsters sampled throughout the Maritimes for the ALMQ project. Of that number, almost 2,000 were in the Northumberland Strait while the remaining 63,000 were sampled from Southwest Nova Scotia area.

$20 MILLION RESEARCH COMPLEX OPENED JUNE 20, 2008

4th ANNUAL WORKSHOP
Growing the Resource: Lobster Enhancement and Health Strategies

The Atlantic Veterinary College at the University of Prince Edward Island officially opened its state-of-the-art $20 million Research Complex in June. Researchers from the Atlantic Veterinary College, including the AVC Lobster Science Centre, are now using this new facility to further both animal & human health and wellness research

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SHELL DISEASE MONITORING PROJECT

The AVC Lobster Science Centre is currently looking for lobsters with shell disease. Shell disease can be a disease of spectacular appearance in lobsters, depending on its form. Impoundment, burnt/rust spot and epidemic shell disease each have characteristic lesions. Significantly, none of the forms of shell disease is readily transmissible from one lobster to another: apparently shell disease is not an infectious disease. Epidemic shell disease may be a newly emerging disease associated with global climate change. In New England, the prevalence of epidemic shell disease increases southwards along the coast of Massachusetts. The time-of-year, sex and size of the lobster influence the occurrence of epidemic shell disease. Occurrence is highest in May-June, prior to the major molt, and lowest in August when lobsters have new, clean shells. This form of disease is more common and severe in large, berried female lobsters. However, this aggressive form of shell disease is currently found in the Atlantic Provinces only at very low levels, with less then 1 lobster in every several thousand lesions. What to do if you catch one of these lobsters? Note the date & location and call us at: 902-894-2884 or toll free at: 1-877-894-2884. We’ll arrange to have any lobsters picked-up, or shipped to our laboratory, at our cost.

NEW WEBSITE LAUNCHED
www. Lobster Science .ca

Click your way through our new updated website that was released in June, 2008. This new website provides an updated look and feel and a host of new information on lobster health and lobster science in general.

In collaboration with the Coastal Zones Research Institute Inc. (CZRI) in Shippagan, NB, the AVC Lobster Science Centre (AVCLSC), at the Atlantic Veterinary College, University of Prince Edward Island, recently co-hosted its 4th Annual Lobster Science Workshop, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Moncton, NB.

      The workshop, held this past November 4-5, was well attended with approximately 100 fishermen, scientists, processors, live shippers and government representatives participating in this two day event. The theme for this year’s event was Growing the Resource and consisted of two different sessions; one on lobster enhancement and one on health strategies. Martin Mallet, project manager at Homarus Inc, the lobster hatchery branch of the Maritime Fishermen’s Union, was the keynote speaker for the morning session and he gave an overview of the work carried out at this lobster hatchery since 2002. Their mandate is to develop strategies for increasing lobster abundance through practical approaches of lobster enhancement and sea ranching, increasing scientific knowledge of lobster biology, and introducing educational tools to better explain ecological processes to the fishing industry. Martin’s presentation was followed by presentations from the Costal Zones Research Institute Inc. (Dounia Daoud), the Maritime Fishermen’s Union (François Beaudin), the Pictou Lobster Stock Enhancement Research Project (Jennifer Feehan), and the Université Sainte-Anne on Juvenile Lobster Research and Lobster Hatchery Development in LFA 26b (Michelle Theriault). The afternoon session was opened by Dr. Michael Tlusty, Research Director at the New England Aquarium in Boston, MA. Dr. Tlusty discussed the Aquarium’s research into disease through causation, and their current investigations into models of the onset of shell disease. Following this keynote presentation, Dr. Grace Karremen of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency gave some background information and an update on the National Aquatic Animal Health Program. The stage was then handed over to four scientists of the AVCLSC, Jean Lavallée, Rick Cawthorn, Andrea Battison and Spencer Greenwood, who gave brief overviews of some of the research activities currently taking place at the Centre. In what is now tradition at the Annual Workshop, the event ended with a fabulous banquet where, of course, lobster was king!

      The CZRI and the AVCLSC would like to express their gratitude to the NB Department of Fisheries, the

principal sponsor for the Workshop. We would also like to acknowledge the following financial contributors to the workshop, without whom this event would not have been possible: Chase's Lobster Pound Limited, Clearwater Seafoods Limited Partnership, Ferguson's Lobster Pound Co., Helly Hansen, NL Department of Fisheries & Aquaculture, NS Department of Agriculture & Fisheries, Ocean Choice PEI Inc., Paturel International Company, PEI Department of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Rural development, and the University of Prince Edward Island. Finally, thank you to all who attended and contributed to making this event a success. See you all next year!

NEW MOULT and QUALITY WEBSITE LAUNCHED
www. Lobster Science .ca/moult

The Atlantic Lobster Moult and Quality website has gone through a complete overhaul in the last couple of months and was relaunched on October 14th, 2008. The new look and feel that makes the site more visually appealing, a updated charting system, and the use of Google Maps for visualising sampling efforts being some of the notable changes. The updated site also provides a table summary with each query allowing findings to be quickly copied and pasted.