RED Scientific are proud to announce that we have adopted some lobsters at the National Lobster Hatchery!

The National Lobster Hatchery is a marine conservation, research and education charity based in Padstow, Cornwall, UK. What makes them unique is that their work is specifically related to a commercial species – The European Lobster – and in the last few years they have successfully established themselves as a centre of expertise on a global scale.

Lobster is worth a huge amount in terms of both its economic and social importance. Consequently they are subject to considerable fishing pressure and vulnerable to catastrophic stock collapse. Both the Scandinavian and Mediterranean stocks have completely collapsed and not recovered to this day.

The species is the most valuable fish caught in the UK and is part of a major export industry. This one species alone is worth £30m each year and, without it, the small coastal communities would have very little (other than tourism) to create jobs and keep the harbour alive.

The problem is one of global food security for future generations and the timescale is scarily short. Fisheries around the world are suffering from major over-exploitation. The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations state that over 75% of the world’s major fisheries are either: fully exploited, over-exploited, depleted or recovering.

It is clear that additional measures are required in order to improve the way we treat our living marine resources and this is why their work is so important.

A female lobster can carry in the region of 20,000 eggs under their abdomen, however only one of these is expected to survive in the wild. With skilful and careful application of modern technology, this survival rate can be improved by about 1000 times! The National Lobster Hatchery released over 53,000 juvenile lobsters in 2014 and aim to increase this number over time.

To find out more, or to adopt your own lobsters, visit: www.nationallobsterhatchery.co.uk