Recatches of marked lobster, Homarus gammarus, released in 1988

A pilot scale release of juvenile lobsters, Homarus gammarus, was conducted at Austevoll, western Norway in August 1988. One and two year old lobsters were marked with a brand on either the carapace or the tail. The two year classes were marked differently. The lobsters were released immediately after arrival from the hatchery, with divers and by dropping the lobsters through tubes in shallow water. Sea temperature was 15 degree C. The lobsters was either apathetic or made convulsive swimming action, resulting in a loss to predatory fishes of at least 15% within the first hour. Still, in 1990, marked lobsters began to appeare in the lobster catches. In two of the release spots, these lobsters contributed to 50 % to 85% of the lobsters of caught. Weight gain had been about 26 times the weight in 1988 and carapace length was about 40% larger than at release. Bottom observations found the lobsters spaced out with no less than 3 m between each