Case study: The National Lobster Hatchery

The National Lobster Hatchery allows the public to observe lobsters at different stages of growth, from day old larvae to thirty year old adults, and to learn about the work which is being done to preserve the marine biodiversity of the seas surrounding Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

Established as a charity in 2004, the National Lobster Hatchery relies largely on donations and income from its visitor centre but has also received crucial funding for a central conservation project through the Cornwall Research Fund.

In the wild, the survival rate for larval lobsters is very low, and stocks had been dwindling since the 1990s. The fund enabled a full time researcher to study how this could be tackled, and investigate how different feeds and environments could be optimised to encourage growth in lobsters from their larval stage.

The study looked at the effects of different levels of dietary supplements on lobster growth and mortality. The objective being that lobsters can be hatched at the centre, and through nhanced nutrition, will grow more quickly and with greater disease resistance. The juvenile stage can then be reintroduced around Cornwall and eventually stabilise stocks.

How RKT helped

What did RKT do?

The fund has helped the National Lobster Hatchery in its aim to establish a centre of excellence for research into decapod culture and fisheries through collaboration with its partners, including higher education institutes within the CUC. Students from The University of Plymouth, Cornwall College Newquay, and the University of Exeter in Cornwall have already undertaken projects at the hatchery. In return, the hatchery has been able to use specialist marine equipment and facilities at the institutes to support their research.