: Europe is a highly lucrative market for North American lobsters.

: Europe is a highly lucrative market for North American lobsters.
Photo Credit: Robert F. Bukaty

Scientists question Swedish ban on lobster imports

Sweden is concerned that North American lobsters may be invading European waters and it wants the European Union to stop the import of live lobsters. Canada exported millions of dollars of the live crustaceans to Europe in 2015. The European market represents about 10 per cent of its lobster exports.

Concern for fragile European lobster populations

Canadian and U.S. lobster stocks are healthy but European stocks are not. Sweden has found about 30 North American lobsters off its coast, one of which was carrying hybrid eggs which suggests it had cross bred with a European lobster.

Sweden is concerned the North American lobsters would invade and take over the European stocks or bring disease. Marine Conservation biologist Boris Worm of Dalhousie University in eastern Canada does not think there is a big risk of that happening.

Biologist Boris Worm says it doesn’t look like North American lobsters are invading Europe.
Biologist Boris Worm says it doesn’t look like North American lobsters are invading Europe. © Danny Abriel, Dalhousie University

‘Does not look like an invasion’

“It does not look like an invasion at all at this point. It’s very isolated cases—maybe a handful of cases of lobster per year at the most,” says Worm. “That happens all the time. We do find non-native species in many ecosystems now. They become established but they don’t necessarily spread. They don’t necessarily become a problem or a risk. Some do. So it’s important to find out which one will and which one won’t.”

Listen

More study needed

It’s not clear how the North American lobsters got into European waters. It could be an individual released them, or they may have escaped from an aquarium. Or they may have been carried across the Atlantic in a ship’s ballast. Worm says more science is needed to determine whether the food trade was, in fact, responsible for the North American lobsters finding their way to European waters.

Categories: Economy, Environment & Animal Life, International, Society
Tags:

Do you want to report an error or a typo? Click here!

For reasons beyond our control, and for an undetermined period of time, our comment section is now closed. However, our social networks remain open to your contributions.