Blue lobster found by Jersey fisherman in 'one-in-two-million' catch

Morgan Bizec described the chance of catching the rare blue lobster as "one-in-two-million"

A fisherman has shared photos of a rare bright blue lobster caught in the sea off Jersey.

The crustaceans are a bright blue due to a genetic abnormality that causes them to produce more of a certain protein than others of their species.

An expert from Oxford University's zoology department said the chance of catching a blue lobster is estimated at about one-in-two-million.

Fisherman Morgan Bizec said it was caught "three miles south of Corbiere".

"It was in one of our 400 pots, we fish 25 pots to a string and it came up in one of them," he said.

Mr Bizec said although the rare lobster was within the legal size, he let the crustacean go back into the ocean for conservation of the species.

The minimum legal size allowed for caught lobsters is a carapace length of 87mm (3.4in) under Jersey fishing regulations.

Gareth Jeffreys, chairman of the Marine Biology Section of the Société Jersiaise, said: "These are very rare and unique findings, I've seen people catching lobsters of unusual colourations due to its abnormal genetics."

Only a handful of Jersey fisherman have reported catching a blue lobster in the Bailiwick's seas.

Kevin McIlwee, of the Jersey Marine Conservation, said: "We used to have a lot of blue lobsters in our waters, effectively it is one that I associate with being fairly mature.

"The lobster population has decreased substantially, the blue lobster is becoming less and less frequent, so it is a really rare mutation."