The "Definition of Overfishing" for the Lobster Resource

"The American lobster resource is overfished when it is harvested at a rate that results in egg production from the resource, on an egg-per-recruit basis, that is less than 10% of the level produced by an unfished population." (Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission Amendment #3 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Lobster)

This official definition of overfishing can also be explained as follows: The average female lobster should be allowed to live long enough to produce at least 10% of the eggs that she would produce if she were allowed to live her natural life.

While it may seem impossible to judge the egg production from an unfished population, considering that the lobster population has been heavily fished for over 100 years, it should be considerably easier to calculate the egg production from a female that lived a natural life span. If we know how often a female produces eggs, how many eggs she produces each time, and how many years she is likely to live, we can calculate how many eggs she would produce over her life time.