Then there was the gourmet's nightmare - the Government-approved lobster traps, which allow almost all their prey to escape, as revealed by researchers using an underwater video camera.
And there's Western Australia's world-leading method for predicting and managing rock lobster populations - a shining example of cooperation between scientists, managers and fishers.
These are among the many insights into the mysterious life of nature's most delectable crustacean, the lobster, in a new book from CSIRO Publishing. Lobster Biology and Management is a special issue of the journal of Marine & Freshwater Research, containing the proceedings of the 6th International Conference on lobster biology and management.
The lobster mass-suicides were reported by a South African scientist, Dr Andrew Cockroft. Five have been observed in recent years, involving the stranding of an estimated total of 2263 tonnes of lobsters!
They were triggered by 'red tides' - massive blooms of toxic dinoflagellates - which deplete the oxygen in the deeper waters, forcing the desperate crustaceans into a 'last gasp' migration into the shallows where they are stranded by the tide. Anxious researchers rescued several tonnes of lobsters and trucked them along the coast to an unaffected area where they were released back into the sea.
The 'trap that wasn't' was discovered by US scientists studying the behaviour of lobsters in traps, using a video camera.
It turned out the lobsters were a lot smarter than the people who designed the traps - only 6 per cent of those that entered were actually caught, while 94 per cent got away. And those that actually entered the trap were only 4 per cent of all the lobsters that approached it!
The trap used was the US Government's officially-approved lobster catching device, underlining the fact that officialdom doesn't know a lot about lobster behaviour. Furthermore, of the escaping lobsters, 72 per cent exited by the 'front door' - which they should not have been able to do.
One of the world's most-admired systems for modelling and sustainably managing a fishery, that developed for the WA rock lobster industry, is soon to be trialled on the $90M/year Southern Australian rock lobster fishery, says CSIRO marine researcher Dr David Griffin.
The method depends on studying ocean currents and winds to forecast the number of baby lobsters that will be swept in from the open sea to settle on the coast. Changes in these conditions can cause settlement by larval lobsters to fluctuate as much as fivefold.
In WA a clear correlation between natural conditions and lobster settlement has been defined, and researchers are hopeful that similar rules may apply to east- and south-coast lobsters - though at the moment, the determining conditions are a complete mystery, says Dr Griffin.
"We believe that variations in lobster settlement are best explained by changes in conditions in the ocean, rather than along the coast. These variations in settlement strongly determine the catch a few years later, causing it to vary as much as 100 per cent from year to year and making it difficult for fishermen and managers.
"We need to understand the governing factors if we are to ensure the fishery is sustainably managed. At the moment it's a completely open question - there isn't even a decent hypothesis," Dr Griffin says.
Australian fisheries and marine scientists contributed 20 per cent of the papers to Lobster Biology and Management, the second largest contribution by any country after the US.
The special issue of Marine & Freshwater Research, Lobster Biology and Management, is available from CSIRO Publishing for US$95 (including postage & handling).
More information on content of this publication contact:
Dr David Griffin, CSIRO Marine Research +61 3 6232 5244
Ann Grant, Managing Editor CSIRO Publishing +61 3 9662 7618
Email: ann.grant@csiro.au
For sales or review copies contact:
Jennifer Griggs, Marketing Manager CSIRO Publishing +61 3 9662 7645
Email: jennifer.griggs@csiro.au
www.publish.csiro.au