The Canadian Lobster Research Network (CLRN) is hitting the ground running in 2025.
Formed last year, the CLRN is unique, said volunteer president Melanie Giffin, marine biologist and program planner for the P.E.I. Fishermen’s Association.
“This is a very unique organization because of the fact it is industry led,” said Giffin. “There are not many groups out there that are trying to get the entire industry together to try to do research together and share that knowledge, and this is coming from industry, so I think it’s going to be unique.”
The CLRN is actually a revival of an old group that was in place a few years back, explained Giffin. “In 2010–2011 there was an organization called the Canadian Fisheries Research Network. The lobster people in that group realized once they built trust among all the organizations and groups, that they were getting some really good work done, working together and collaboratively. They kept that group going for a few years, but just didn’t have the funding to keep it going, so for the past seven years we’ve been trying to get the funding to keep it going and revive it. Finally, we got that funding.”
The CLRN has received funding from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities
Agency, the Atlantic Fisheries Fund (AFF), as well as cash contributions from fishing organizations to get the work going, said Giffin.
The CLRN board of directors is made up of industry representatives from P.E.I., Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Québec with one Indigenous seat and a processor seat. “We’re looking to get someone from Newfoundland as well,” said Giffin, noting the board works virtually most of the time through computer programs such as Teams and Zoom.
Giffin said the CLRN is being set up so that it remains inclusive. “So, if an organization that’s been kind of on the fence and then decides they want to take part, no problem. It will be an open organization, an open network. The more people involved, the easier and further this goes.”
The research done, decisions made and directions taken by the research network will be decided by the board of directors, said Giffin. “The research will be industry led rather than research questions coming from academia or DFO.”
Giffin said some industry organizations, such as the PEIFA and MFU, have scientists on staff who are doing lobster research.
In Southwestern Nova Scotia, industry associations have been conducting the LFA 33/34 Atlantic Lobster Moult and Quality Survey for the past 20 years, and are at the helm of the Southwest Lobster Science Society’s at-sea bycatch monitoring program.
“Part of the goal here is to collaborate so we’re not reinventing the wheel,” said Giffin. What happens in one area when it comes to lobster could affect other areas. What happens in one area one year could happen in another area next year, so the best way to protect against any issues and to make sure we all know what’s going on is to collaborate and stay in touch with each other.”
The CLRN has hired a few technicians who are located throughout the eastern provinces, working out of office space donated by fishing organizations, said Giffin.
Going into 2025, the CLRN will hold their first board meeting, elect a new executive, adopt their bylaws and then start holding some workshops with industry “so that we can make sure that the questions we are asking that we’re looking to answer are coming from the ground up,” said Giffin.
The CLRN does have one research project lined up for 2025; size or age of lobster maturity, is that changing? It’s a question that has come up in previous workshops and in various LFAs in Atlantic Canada, said Giffin.
With climate change and fishing pressure, age of maturity can change, said Giffin. “What we’re doing collaboratively, the CLRN, fishing organizations and DFO are working to try and get some information.”
Predator-prey relationships, climate change, striped bass and lobster populations are other issues and concerns brought forward by industry recently, said Giffin.
“Part of the workshop process that we’re doing is to get the harvesters in the room and ask what are your biggest concerns, what questions do you have that you want answered.”
The CLRN will also be delving into the social sciences side of the industry “because ultimately if we do see a dip in the lobster populations and that effects the fishers, that has a snowball effect on the community as well. At this point we don’t have the number or we’ve never really done the work to understand the economics of a lobster fishery, so that’s a big part of it. ”said Giffin. “The social sciences side, we’re starting from scratch, so we will be doing some educational stuff to better understand.”
A data management platform is also on the to-do list for the CLRN. “One of the things the lobster industry has trouble with is data sharing and an easy way to store that data and log into that data,” said Giffin. “All of our organizations are stretched pretty thin to get the work done and we do have a data manager hired. The CLRN is building a data platform. There will be some rules and regulations around that we will have to discuss at the board level. Privacy, we want to make sure that is all taken into consideration.”
While the CLRN is just getting off the ground, its members built a lot of trust in the original group so “we’re not starting from ground zero again. We do have a lot of work to do to be up to where we want to be,” said Giffin.
