Sampling lobster
Research looking at genetic structure of Atlantic lobster
You’re eating lobster in a restaurant and the waiter tells you it was caught in the waters off P.E.I. But can you really be sure? Yann Dorant says you can. A PhD student from Laval University, Dorant is heading up a research project which seeks to better understand the genetic structure of the American lobster in Eastern Canada. And he’s getting support from fisheries organizations, government departments and academics throughout the region.
A better understanding could help establish guidelines and recommendations for building a more sustainable fishery, Dorant suggests. His project is co-directed by professors from Laval and University of New Brunswick.
Craig Avery, president of the P.E.I. Fishermen’s Association, had fisheries technician Michelle Hewitt out with him twice during the spring fishery, which just ended. The provincial government employee was gathering eggs from berried female lobster and walking legs from selected juvenile and adult lobsters, placing the samples in sealed containers and sending them and related information off to Dorant.
“We’re looking to see if P.E.I. lobster are genetically similar to Nova Scotia’s lobsters, or have we, over the years, more or less, kind of evolved on our own due to our own specific and unique micro-environment,” said Hewitt in explaining her role in the research.
Dorant, however, is looking at the data over a broader scale. He said he’s grateful for the support his research project is receiving from all over eastern Canada.
The lobster project started in 2012, and Dorant has been involved since 2015 when the project was re-funded through until 2019.
Once the samples — 50 from each area — are delivered, Dorant extracts DNA to build on established database in the hopes of more finely classifying the samples’ origin.
From the context of ecocertification and increased consumer awareness, Dorant suggests the database could assist fishermen and local managers with territorial branding.
“We collaborate with the fishermen’s association on a number of different projects, and every few years there’s a unique one that comes along that we take part in, and this was one that offered itself up so we volunteered to help collect information,” said lobster biologist Robert McMillan.
“It’s a big undertaking.”