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National Lobster Hatchery

is a charity that was set up to support the cornish fishery and local lobster population. Lobsters are nurtured from egg through their most vunerable stage of their life cycle and released back into the wild. The visitor centre is open every day of the year except Christmas Day.
National Lobster Hatchery
National Lobster Hatchery14 hours ago
Congratulations to Harry Jones for winning our LEGO Competition in April! Harry certainly looks very pleased with himself AND he now has his own little adopted lobster called Jeff! Well Done Harry! 🥳🦞
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National Lobster Hatchery
National Lobster Hatchery1 day ago
🦞******THE LOBSTERS NEED YOUR HELP******🦞

The National Lobster Hatchery are appealing for anyone who might be able to take tiny harmless samples of lobsters caught anywhere around Spain, Portugal or SW France.

In recent years, the Hatchery has collaborated with two PhD researchers, Charlie Ellis and Tom Jenkins at the University of Exeter, to try to understand the genetic structure of European lobsters. To continue their important work, the scientists are now urgently seeking tissue samples from clawed lobsters caught in the countries south of Britain, where they do not currently have enough samples to properly detail the pattern of genetic structure.Knowledge of genetic structure is absolutely crucial to lobster conservation efforts, as it reveals the boundaries of where one population ends and another begins, and can be used to infer all sorts of fundamental biological factors, such as how far larvae drift in the wild, which other regions contribute to the settlement of new lobsters in any particular area, and how far lobsters can be moved for hatchery releases without them impacting adaptations evolved to prosper in the local environment.

Charlie and Tom have already made some important discoveries, such as the pronounced divergence between lobsters in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea, and the more subtle differences that separate the lobsters of the UK and Ireland from those across the North Sea in Scandinavia.

Through collaborators at other research stations, Charlie and Tom have been able to obtain lobster tissue samples from La Rochelle in Western France, Vigo in Northwestern Spain, and Sardinia in the Med, but lobsters are known to range all the way down to Morocco, so there are still some big gaps on their sampling map.

Tissue sampling involves clipping a small section from the end of one of a lobster’s pleopods (the flappy paddles on the underside of the tail), which does not harm the lobster, and placing this in a small tube of ethanol to preserve the DNA. Sampling kits with instructions and equipment can be posted to anyone willing and able to conduct sampling. The process only takes about 1 minute per lobster, and our researchers are seeking tissue clips from at least 20 (but ideally 40) lobsters per area to comprise one ‘geographic sample’. The sampling would be particularly well-suited to anyone who is or knows a lobster fisherman or seafood merchant, or anyone with access to live lobsters at a seafood market, although it is important to check the origins of any lobsters sourced in this way, since much of the lobster sold throughout Europe has actually been imported from the UK and Ireland.

If anyone thinks they may be able to help, then please contact Dr Charlie Ellis on c.ellis@exeter.ac.uk
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National Lobster Hatchery
National Lobster Hatchery2 days ago
🦞********COMPETITION TIME!!*******🦞!

Our Mini Marine Biologist event starts THIS weekend! To celebrate we're offering you the chance to win a VIP tour of our hatchery! All you have to do is like our page and tag a lobster loving friend in the comments! Competition ends midnight 25th May - Good luck! 😍🦞
Ace photo by Lewis Jefferies!
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NationalLobsterHatch @PadstowLobster
1 day ago
LOBSTERS NEED YOUR HELP! The National Lobster Hatchery are appealing for anyone who might be able to take tiny harmless samples of lobsters caught anywhere around Spain, Portugal or SW France. @TheLobsterDr @Tom__Jenkins https://t.co/T7EwIfjydY
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NationalLobsterHatch @PadstowLobster
5 days ago
Claws up if you’re happy it’s Friday! 🙌 https://t.co/1O57ZY0cdp
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NationalLobsterHatch @PadstowLobster
5 days ago
Our newsletter is hot off the press! Featuring awesome updates, the brilliant @PrawnOnTheLawn, one of our ace fisherman @cornish_lobster, and not forgetting one of of our ace volunteers, Lawrence! https://t.co/hcoTrHaCtv
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NationalLobsterHatch @PadstowLobster
2 weeks ago
We want to welcome our new BOSOF members - @TheNoisyLobster!
Thanks so much for your ace support guys! https://t.co/IA4RGomvC0
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NationalLobsterHatch @PadstowLobster
3 weeks ago
💙Happy May Day from the NLH❤️🦞

#padstow #mayday #cornwall https://t.co/1r6cEkT4Kk
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NationalLobsterHatch @PadstowLobster
3 weeks ago
Wow what an AMAZING Easter holidays we had! Check out all these beautiful colourings from our mini marine biologist event! 😍🦞🌈 https://t.co/QqLT9O8xEy
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The National Lobster Hatchery, South Quay, Padstow, PL28 8BL Tel: 01841 533877
Registered in England & Wales 3527313 | Registered Charity in England & Wales 1105434
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