Amid horror at the deaths of tens of thousands of crabs and lobsters off the east coast there has been a boost for the industry as the first batch of baby lobsters were released into the sea off the North Yorkshire coast.

It’s part of an ongoing scheme by the Whitby Lobster Hatchery to replace devastated stocks. They’ve also launched a crowdfunding appeal to raise £20,000 to help fund the work.

They released 50 one inch long juvenile lobsters as the first symbolic moves in the campaign to put back stocks. Eventually they’re hoping to rear and release 100,000 juveniles every year. Project Manager Joe Redfern said it was ‘momentous’ to release the first tiny lobsters.

Many in the fishing industry believe the deaths are linked to harmful chemicals released by dredging, which is being done in the River Tees as part of the Teesside Freeport project, but Government scientists said a naturally-occurring algal bloom is to blame.

Mr Redfern said the aim of the hatchery is to ensure the sustainability of the local fishing industry and the conservation of marine ecosystems. He added: “Recent wash up events which have impacted our coastline for the past six to seven months have been a sobering reminder of the vulnerability of our oceans. The concern and sadness seeing the death of our marine wildlife has been felt throughout coastal communities. We believe we can be part of the solution.

“At the Whitby Lobster Hatchery we aim to release juvenile lobsters into the ocean, so we can conserve lobster populations and protect fishing livelihoods into the future.”

The hatchery is being set up in unused auction sheds in Whitby harbour. Mr Redfern said Lobsters produce up to 20,000 eggs per cycle, which are released into the water as larvae but only one per cent survive. By developing the eggs safely in the hatchery, they can eliminate many early risks, growing the eggs until they are juvenile lobsters, mature enough to be independent, bottom-dwelling creatures dramatically increasing the survival rate of the baby lobsters to 30 to 50 per cent.

Mayor of Whitby Linda Wild said: “The release of the first juvenile lobsters was fantastic. The Hatchery is doing such a brilliant job, eventually if they can release 100,000 of them it will be a massive boost and it is so important at the moment with all the crabs and lobsters dying along the coast. It is an ongoing scheme and we really need to get behind them, they need the money to keep it going, so the crowdfunding is really important.”

https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/whitby-lobster-hatchery-support