Lumpsucker

[Dogghound]

Force eleven i hope you put this one back where you found it as the eggs will perish without it.

[Force Eleven]

Yeah it was put back in the same rockpool. We only had it out for a few mins at the most

[zan]

As far as I can remember from my fisheries course, the only reason the Norwegians switched to catching lumpsuckers was due to massively increased fishing pressure from foreign factory trawlers that were working offshore and catching much of the cod before it could return inshore to spawn (when they were caught by the smaller, local inshore fishers). I can't remember all the details, but I believe a series of environmental factors, coupled with the huge fishing pressure is what has all but ended the cod fishing in the north of Norway and forced the shift to lumpsuckers. ...So I woudn't blame it all on the seals!

[Force Eleven]

Just to let you all know, we found a female lumpsucker last night at about 8:30pm on the lower shore. She was heavily pregnant, and about 50cm long, 20cm wide, and 25cm high Huge mutha!

2 in two weeks
F11

[Dover Diver]

Hi
I dived at Langdon Bay Dover today and came within 1 meter of this fish and it was just as curious about me as I was him. I say him because without your post I could not of identified it properly from book pictures.
Cheers

[ChristineRoberts]

We normally see a few of them in the Purbecks but I've only seen 2 so far this year.Usually, one guards the eggs under Swanage Pier but hasn't done that this year as yet.
Apparently, in the particularly low tides at the end of March, 2 were found dead as they wouldn't leave their eggs (or left it too late to escape)and the tides receded much further than usual. How sad.
Chris