There’s a fight between Maine and Scandinavia over whether live lobsters can be imported there for food – the Europeans are worried that they will escape and become an invasive species.
The latest report from the Portland Press-Herald (this is a big issue in Maine, as you might suspect) gives an update: “Scandinavian biologists say American and European lobsters are crossbreeding and their offspring can survive in European waters, but it is too early to tell if the hybrids can reproduce.
“American scientists said your lobsters couldn’t survive in European waters, but we have proof they are not only surviving, but competing with the European lobster for food, shelter and mates,” Susanne Eriksson of the University of Gothenberg in Sweden said. “They are crossbreeding, the hybrid eggs are hatching, and the larvae are surviving in our tanks, and in our oceans. We don’t know if they can reproduce yet, that’s a year or two away, but we know the males can produce sperm.”
Nature sure is complicated.
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