ABSTRACT
The effects of fishery processes on the reproduction of commercially exploited crustaceans are complex. The population responses to exploitation can be manifested in changes in the reproductive biology, with implications for the fisheries in the short and long term. The high historical exploitation of the American lobster in the United States and Canada has forced the vigilant application and careful selection of management strategies and regulations. Establishment of particular geographic areas for lobster exploitation in Canadian waters, such as Lobster Fishing Areas, allows close monitoring of lobster populations, aimed at revealing the effects of established management strategies and regulations. Successful implementation of management regulations must in general follow the principles of conservation, aiming at achieving the sustainability of the resource. Fisheries regulations are mostly based on size limits with the aim to protect immature individuals from exploitation and to ensure an adequate number of reproductively active animals to support the total reproductive output, or egg production, of the population.
