European lobster 1000/12000

Homar Europejski 1000/1200,  European lobster 1000/12000, Homarus gammarus, Skorupiaki, Homar, homar

SPECIES DESCRIPTION

The species is also found in the Mediterranean Sea, but not in the Baltic. The northernmost self-sustaining population is found in Tysfjord (68°15’N) in northern Norway.

The lobster fishery in Norway has traditions that can be traced back to the 1600’s. Available statistics describe a national fishery fluctuating around an annual average of 900 thousand individuals from 1820 to 1920, corresponding to about 500 tons. The landings rose sharply in the early 1930s to a peak of 1 300 tons in 1932 (2.8 million individuals). In the following decades, the landings varied around 700 to 800 tons yearly.

Norway was at that time one of the principal countries supplying lobster to the European market, accounting for 24 % of total landings, and the lobster fishery was thus of high economic value for many coastal communities. However, the landings fell dramatically from 1960, and are currently of about 30 tons annually. Currently, the total annual landings of European lobster vary between 2000 and 2500 tons, mainly captured in Ireland and Great Britain. Decades with low landings forced many lobster dealers in Norway to close down, and since the 1990s, annual registrations probably reflect maximum capacity of the few remaining dealers rather than total catches. The Norwegian lobster fishery can indeed be regarded as marginal, and based on a stock that has been overexploited for a long time.