Stony Brook, NY, Monday, November 19, 2001- Investigators from 19 research teams in over a half dozen states will convene next Thursday and Friday for the Second Annual Long Island Sound Lobster Health Symposium. On Thursday, a day-long session will be held at the Holiday Inn (3845 Vets Highway, Ronkonkoma, LI) to inform at least 200 pre-registered lobster fishers, resource managers, and others about the research, the current status of knowledge regarding lobster resources in 2000, and the research agenda for this year and beyond.

Officially announced this past June, the research is jointly funded under the Long Island Sound Lobster Initiative (LISLI), an endeavor of Sea Grant programs in New York and Connecticut (NYSG and CTSG, respectively) along with the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (CTDEP) and the National Marine Fisheries Service's (NMFS) Northeast Fisheries Science Center.

Coordinated by NYSG and CTSG, the conference will be a platform for numerous questions to be answered, including:

What is the Long Island Sound Lobster Initiative?
LISLI was formed after a July 2001 Congressional allocation of $6.6 million in federal funds to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for research investigations on causes and economic impacts of mortality and shell disease in Long Island Sound lobsters. These monies were earmarked for $2.6 million for two projects by CTDEP and NYSDEC on resource assessment and monitoring and $4 million for research, outreach and administration of 14 investigations by CTSG, NYSG, and NMFS. The State of Connecticut Bond Commission added $1 million through the CTDEP Long Island Sound Research Fund for three other projects investigating several possible causes of lobster mortality.