A LOCAL aquarium’s successful breeding programme has seen nearly 2,000 young lobsters released into the sea. 

Maryport’s Lake District Coastal Aquarium has been breeding lobsters since the opening of is Sea Lab extension in 2015. 

Owner, Mark Vollers said: “This year has been our most successful yet in terms of numbers released with nearly 2,000 juveniles (about 2cm long) being raised in our hatchery.

“The whole process from newly hatched free-swimming larvae to youngsters ready for life on the sea bed takes about three months, generally from mid-June to mid-September and is one of the most popular displays viewed by our aquarium visitors.   

“The adult egg-bearing female lobsters needed to start the process off are obtained from lobster fishermen issued with a special permit by the Marine Management Organisation, overseen by local North West Inshore Fisheries Authority based in Whitehaven.  

“This is on the understanding that they are returned to the sea when the eggs have hatched.

"We do keep a few baby lobsters back for visitors to see during the months our seasonally operating hatchery is idle, but these too are released as soon as the new batch arrives.” 

More than 90 per cent of the lobsters are preyed on by other marine life in the early days after hatchling when they are free swimming in the upper plankton-rich waters of the sea. 

“If we get them past this vulnerable period and then carefully deposit them onto known good lobster habitat then there is a much greater chance that they can reach breeding maturity and so help augment the local commercial lobster fishery. 

“We are very grateful for the assistance of the lobster fishing community in completing this annual programme and for the obvious educational interest it provides for all our visitors.”