Lewis S. Incze, Peter Aas, Terri Ainaire and Marcia Bowen

We examined seasonal abundance of postlarval (=stage IV) lobsters from neuston samples from 1989 to 1995 at Johns Bay, Maine and Seabrook, New Hampshire, located 150 km apart in the western Gulf of Maine. The postlarval (PL) season at these sites began between approximately DOY 180 and 210 and ranged from about 35 to 70 d duration. Maximum concentrations from single tows exceeded 100 PL/1000 m² at both sites, but 85% or more of the positive tows had concentrations < 15/1000 m² and more than half had # 5/1000 m². These concentrations occurred at high levels of the stock and form a benchmark for future measurements. Integrated seasonal abundance was approximately 200 PL-days/1000 m²/year and temporal patterns of abundance were similar for the two sites with a few notable exceptions. Brief surveys at other locations in the western Gulf of Maine caught postlarvae out to 56 km offshore at concentrations similar to the two coastal time-series sites. The surveys also indicate along-shore scales of coherence in patterns of abundance.