Do lobsters migrate?
Tag and recapture studies have shown that lobsters tagged offshore in the winter and spring have been recaptured inshore in the summer and fall and vice versa (Cooper & Uzmann, 1971, 1980; Fogarty et al., 1980; Campbell et al., 1984; Aiken & Waddy, 1986; Pezzack & Duggan, 1986). Cooper (1977a) estimated that 20-50% of offshore lobsters are migratory. This suggests a pattern of seasonal migration where lobsters move offshore in the winter and spring and inshore in the summer and fall. The existence of a seasonal migration is supported by population density studies. The highest density of offshore lobsters in the summer and fall months is in inshore or shoal water, whereas in the winter and spring it is in the deep waters of the continental shelf edge (Fogarty et al., 1982).
