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Indicators:  Sound + Shore

Lobsters

The data for 2007 show a negative change from 2006.  The one-year change is not always consistent with the long-term trend, which is displayed on the graph.

The lobster population of Long Island Sound hit another new low in 2007.

Lobster Trend

The DEP samples lobster populations every autumn by towing nets from a research vessel at randomly selected sites throughout Long Island Sound. Researchers are focusing on a combination of four possible causes for the dramatic downturn since 1999: disease, changes in water quality, changes in climatic conditions, and human impacts to the Sound. Research to date suggests that a trend toward warmer water temperatures is an important factor in the decline of lobsters. While the lobster population appeared to stabilize in 2003, the autumn 2007 trawl yielded the lowest number in at least 20 years.