The Secret Life of Lobsters: how Fishermen and Scientists are Unraveling the Mysteries of our Favorite Crustacean.

Like many communities in Maine, Little Cranberry Island is sustained by commercial fishing, especially lobstering. And the past 15 years have been good ones there. The lobster catch near the island has nearly tripled during a time when the lobster population off several other Eastern seaboard areas has dropped dramatically. This leads many scientists, environmentalists, and everyday citizens to wonder whether Maine, also, is headed for a lobster crash. Corson worked aboard a lobster boat for 2 years and has traveled extensively with lobster-studying scientists. He found that the trappers have their own, often conflicting, ideas about the lives of lobsters, and scientists too find these crustaceans inherently complex in their habits and life cycles, which are just recently becoming better understood. In the end, the scientists' and trappers essentially agree about how to sustain Maine's lobsters and draw off of each other's findings in order to preserve lobsters and the business of lobstering. Harpc, 2004, 285) p., hardcover, $24.95.