AN AMBITIOUS project to sustain North Berwick’s lobster population by releasing thousands of young shellfish into the sea should produce its first batch of babies next year.

The Lobster Hatchery has weathered the economic storm to mark its first fully-funded year in operation at the town’s harbour.

And the charity project believes it could be producing up to 10,000 young lobsters next year to introduce into the sea.

Set up by local businesswoman Jane McMinn, lobster fisherman Jack Dale, and David Grubb, a local businessman, the hatchery was first discussed in 2009 but finding funds proved difficult.

It began to take shape with a hatchery set up in a portacabin on the harbour, but in 2012 the cabin and all its contents were destroyed in the storms which battered East Lothian’s coastline, leaving everyone involved to pick up the pieces and start again.

This year, the charity received funding from the Coastal Communities Fund, which has allowed it to take on its first staff and install state-of-the-art equipment to help rear its first lobsters from the eggs to the juvenile phase for release.

Jane McMinn (pictured right), director of the lobster hatchery, said: “It has taken a long time to come together, both with finding the funding, and recovering from the storm.

“But we are looking at producing juvenile lobsters to be released into the sea next year and aim to produce about 10,000 of them.” The hatchery believes releasing the young lobsters will benefit the fishing communities of East Lothian, as well as strengthening the local marine ecosystem and ensuring there is a sustained population of the shellfish available locally.

By breeding the juvenile lobsters in the controlled conditions of the hatchery, they give them the best chance of surviving in the wild.

Lobsters are cannibalistic, even at the larvae stage of their lives, and need to be kept apart to ensure they do not eat each other.

The hatchery collects the eggs from the breeding hens (female lobsters) and moves them into tubs which keep the larvae circling around a cyclone of moving water as they grow.

The moving water stops the larvae from settling at the bottom and feasting on each other as they grow.

Once they reach the juvenile stage – and are about the length of a finger nail – they are put in individual cells, in trays to allow them to develop alone, before they are released back into the sea.

Jane said: “We believe starting their lives in a hatchery gives them a much higher chance of survival.

“It is all about ensuring the future of our lobster population and fishing industry in North Berwick.” The Fisheries Local Action Group (FLAG), funded through East Lothian Council and European Fisheries Fund, has allowed the hatchery to develop a visitor centre which people are able to visit during the tourist season, which shows the remarkable journey lobsters make from eggs to adult.

And Jane, who is a local commercial skipper, believes North Berwick lobster could become its own brand in the future as its reputation grows.

Chef Steve Leadley, at the Nether Abbey Hotel in the town, serves the local catch on a daily basis at his restaurant.

He said the importance of local lobsters could not be underestimated.

Steve said: “Being able to buy our lobsters from the local fisherman makes a huge difference for us.

“We know they are fresh, we know they are good and we can trust in their quality.”