Fisherman discovered long ago that lobsters practice cannibalism when many are put together in confined spaces. This is the reason that lobsters in tanks at grocery stores have rubber bands around their claws. This behavior was thought to be induced by the confining space in these tanks. But just recently this behavior has been observed in the wild as a natural behavior of lobsters.
The lobster population on the east coast of the United States has been booming in the past few years due to overfishing of their natural predators, such as halibut. Warmer Ocean temperatures have also contributed to larger populations in the Gulf of Mexico. The lobster industry has been breaking catch records in recent years due to the unnaturally high amount of lobsters, but this imbalance is having effects on the lobster population. It seems that lobsters are being triggered to bring their population to a more balanced level and therefore prey on one another. It has been observed that at night eight of nine predatory attacks of small lobsters are from larger lobsters. This is an exceptional look at how some species adjust to overpopulation to restore balance.
