A government researcher in New Brunswick has found that agricultural pesticides can kill lobster larvae, but whether that's happening in the wild is still in question.

'We're not trying to paint anything here as the one factor.'— Wayne Fairchild, DFO scientist

Wayne Fairchild, a scientist with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in Moncton, is close to publishing results of laboratory research.

Fairchild told CBC News Wednesday his team exposed small lobsters to tiny amounts of pesticides. Three insecticides killed or damaged the larvae.

"With everything that's going on in the whole cycle, we're not trying to paint anything here as the one factor, but certainly trying to look at how much of a factor it might be," said Fairchild.

Fairchild is part of a working group of fishermen, government representatives and scientists who have been meeting to talk about the possible effects of pesticide run-off on young lobsters.

The group came together after last summer's fish kills in two Island rivers.

Some lobster fishermen from Nova Scotia asked whether pesticides from those rivers could end up in the Northumberland Strait and damage or kill young lobsters.

Linda MacLean of DFO said the group considered from early on that insecticides in particular could affect lobster larvae.

Thousands of fish were killed in the Dunk and Tryon rivers in July. Pesticides were strongly suspected as the cause, but there was not enough evidence to lay charges.
(CBC)

"A lot of the physiological processes in young developing lobster larvae, especially as they're moulting, are very similar to physiological processes in insects," said MacLean.

"If there are chemicals that are trying to target a certain life stage of an insect, they may also have that same impact on lobster larvae."

The remaining question is whether lobster larvae are, in fact, being exposed to significant levels of insecticide in the wild.

Fairchild said preliminary work has begun to see how much pesticide wild larvae may be exposed to and what that could mean to their survival.