Bayer, Wahle quoted in Press Herald article on lobster bait
Bob Bayer, executive director of the University of Maine’s Lobster Institute, spoke with the Portland Press Herald for the article, “What did your lobster eat before you ate your lobster? And why should you care?” as part of the “Green Plate Special” column. For Maine lobsters, herring is their preferred food because they grew up eating it, according to Bayer, who said it takes one pound of herring to produce one pound of lobster. That same ratio, when used in fin fish aquaculture, has been rendered an unsustainable practice, according to the article. To meet the demand of the lobster industry, bait is now sourced from all over the world, a logistical fact that raises serious biosecurity and human health issues, according to Rick Wahle, a research professor at UMaine’s Darling Marine Center in Walpole. For the last 30 years, Bayer has been formulating bait alternatives, which can be used solo or mixed with herring to help stretch its usefulness, the article states.