Bayer, Steneck quoted in Press Herald article on Sweden’s proposed lobster ban
Robert Bayer, executive director of the University of Maine’s Lobster Institute; and Robert Steneck, a leading marine biologist at UMaine’s School of Marine Sciences, spoke with the Portland Press Herald for an article about Sweden wanting the European Union to put Maine lobster on its international list of invasive species. The ban would stop all live lobster exports to its 28 member nations, according to the article. If approved, the ban would cost the U.S. lobster industry about $150 million a year, including a loss of more than $10 million in Maine, the article states. Bayer said there is no scientific basis for Sweden’s proposed ban. “I think what they’re saying, for the most part, is incorrect,” he said, adding Swedish officials have expressed concerns about the spread of three diseases: epizootic shell disease, gaffkemia or “red-tail,” and white spot syndrome. Bayer said shell disease is a noncontagious bacterial infection, red-tail is no longer present in the American lobster population, and white spot syndrome only affects shrimp, not lobsters. “The most demographically important disease is the shell disease, but it requires water temperatures warmer than about 65 degrees (Fahrenheit),” Steneck said. “Europe’s summer water temperatures are cooler than ours — typically about 53 degrees — so it is very unlikely that the disease would take hold in the eastern North Atlantic.” Bayer also spoke about the topic on WRKO AM 680: The Voice of Boston and was quoted in articles by The Wall Street Journal, Ellsworth American , The Christian Science Monitor and Canadian Press. The Canadian Press report was published by 680 News and CBC News, as well as cited by PRI’s The World.