Fisherman on England’s Northern coast have been finding a curious catch in their nets recently—Canadian lobster. 
 
 The Homarus Americanus is native to the Atlantic ocean, just off the North American coast—3,500 miles away from the U.K. Are the lobsters just taking a leisurely swim across the pond? 
 
 According to fishery experts, no. 
 
 Researchers now believe passengers aboard Atlantic-crossing cruise ships have actually been buying live lobsters and, in a misguided effort of animal rights activism, throwing them overboard in an effort to save the crustaceans, reports the Daily Mail. Many of the lobsters caught still have the rubber bands around the their claws, according to local fishermen. 
 
 “In the past we have heard one officer on the watch talking to another on the cruise ship saying some of the passengers were going to buy lobsters and release them, thinking they were doing good,” Gary Redshaw, a skipper who has found the foreign lobster species in British waters, told the Yorkshire Post. 
 
 “But in fact they can do a lot of damage. I think it’s a good idea to study them as they could be giving English lobsters a disease.” 
 
 The North American lobsters are unable to breed with local lobster species and usually die quickly in the unfamiliar habitat. Experts also warn that the two new species could bring more harm to local lobster populations. 
 
 “They are usually Canadian lobster as they are cheap. But the chances of them being established are very rare,” Mike Cohen, Chief Executive of the Holderness Fishing Industry Group said. “They won’t last much longer than if the passengers had eaten them for dinner.” 
 
 Foreign “marine litter” was blamed for wiping out a native English oyster a few years ago. 

 The well-meaning passengers think they are saving the shellfish but they are more likely throwing them to their deaths, experts say. 
 
 The Canadian species – homarus americanus – usually served aboard cannot compete with the native European lobsters and are unable to interbreed. 
 
 Mike Cohen, from Holderness Fishing Industry Group, said: “They are found occasionally near Bridlington. I understand from common frequency on the radio that passengers buy a lobster from the live tanks and then ask the waiter to throw them overboard rather than eating it. 
 
 “The only ones that are found are large, plate-sized lobster. Some even have the elastic bands around their claws. 
 
 “They are usually Canadian lobster as they are cheap. But the chances of them being established are very rare. They won’t last much longer than if the passengers had eaten them for dinner.” 
 
 Concerns have been raised that the foreign lobster could be carrying diseases that pose a threat to the local population but Mr Cohen said it was not a major risk. 
 
 “We do have to worry about ecosystems being affected but this has been going on for a long time now and it does not seem to have happened,” he added. 
 
 The fishing group has joined forces with Hull University to pool resources for scientific research and said it would examine any that are found in future to see if they carry disease that would threatened the native population. 
 
 Cruise experts insisted that passengers did not have access to live lobsters and that those served on board were always frozen. 

 CANADIAN lobsters have been found off the Yorkshire coast - after being thrown back in the sea by well-meaning passengers taking pity on their dinner aboard cruise ships. 
 
 The lobster, homarus americanus, normally found thousands of miles away off the Atlantic coast of North America occasionally finds its way into the pots of local fishermen. 
 
 Scientists at the University of Hull have said they will examine any that are found in future to see if they carry disease that could be a threat to the native population found in the UK’s biggest lobster fishery after the issue was raised at a meeting. 
 
 Skipper Gary Redshaw last found one two years ago 50 to 60 miles east of Bridlington. 
 
 He said: “In the past we have heard one officer on the watch talking to another on the cruise ship saying some of the passengers were going to buy lobsters and release them, thinking they were doing good. 
 
 “But in fact they can do a lot of damage. I think it’s a good idea to study them as they could be giving English lobsters a disease.” 
 
 Finds of the Canadian lobster, whose closest relative is the European lobster, homarus gammarus, are rare, and laboratory tests have shown that while the different species will mate their offspring are infertile. 
 
 Mike Cohen, from Holderness Fishing Industry Group, said: “We think the most likely route is that they are getting thrown overboard from cruise ships. People buy lobster for dinner, feel sorry for it and ask the waiter to chuck it over. 
 
 “In the grand scheme of things that’s a very small level of re-introduction.” 

 They are unable to breed with local species and struggle to survive in UK 
 
 Canadian lobsters have been discovered off the coast of Yorkshire - after being thrown overboard by diners on cruise ships. 
 
 Local fisherman are understood to have found the species in their lobster pots, 3,500 miles away from their natural habitat in the Atlantic ocean off the coast of North America. 
 
 Experts believe that guilty passengers aboard cruise ships are buying live lobsters and ordering waiters to throw them overboard thinking that they are saving the shellfish. 
 
 American lobsters are being found in British waters, some still with elastic bands around their claws 
 
 In some cases, local fishermen have reported finding some lobsters still with elastic bands around their claws. 
 
 However, they are more likely throwing them to their deaths, experts say. 
 
 The Canadian species – Homarus Americanus – cannot compete with the native European lobsters and are unable to interbreed. 
 
 Scientists at the University of Hull have said they will examine any that are found in future to see if they carry disease that could be a threat to the native population. 
 
 Canadian lobsters, also known as Homarus Americanus, have been discovered off the coast of Yorkshire 
 
 Skipper Gary Redshaw last found one two years ago 50 to 60 miles east of Bridlington. 
 
 He told the Yorkshire Post: ‘In the past we have heard one officer on the watch talking to another on the cruise ship saying some of the passengers were going to buy lobsters and release them, thinking they were doing good. 
 
 ‘But in fact they can do a lot of damage. 
 
 The Canadian species cannot compete with the native European lobsters and are unable to interbreed 
 
 Scientists at the University of Hull have said they will examine any Canadian Lobsters that are found in future to see if they carry disease that could be a threat to the native population 
 
 ‘I think it’s a good idea to study them as they could be giving English lobsters a disease.’ 
 
 Finds of the Canadian lobster, whose closest relative is the European lobster, homarus gammarus, are rare, and laboratory tests have shown that while the different species will mate, their offspring are infertile. 
 
 Mike Cohen, from Holderness Fishing Industry Group, adding: ‘We think the most likely route is that they are getting thrown overboard from cruise ships. 
 
 ‘People buy lobster for dinner, feel sorry for it and ask the waiter to chuck it over. 
 
 ‘In the grand scheme of things that’s a very small level of re-introduction. 
 
 ‘They are found occasionally near Bridlington. 
 
 ‘I understand from common frequency on the radio that passengers buy a lobster from the live tanks and then ask the waiter to throw them overboard rather than eating it. 
 
 ‘The only ones that are found are large, plate-sized lobster. Some even have the elastic bands around their claws. 
 
 Experts believe that well-meaning cruise ship passengers are buying live lobster and then throwing them overboard in the belief that they are saving them 
 
 ‘They are usually Canadian lobster as they are cheap. But the chances of them being established are very rare. 
 
 'They won’t last much longer than if the passengers had eaten them for dinner.’ 
 
 Meanwhile, wildlife experts say exotic creatures from as far away as the Caribbean are arriving at the south coast of Britain after being transported thousands of miles on marine rubbish. 
 
 An increasing number of species previously unseen in UK waters are turning up, having travelled across the Atlantic from the warm seas off Florida and Bermuda. 
 
 Canadian lobsters from locations such as Nova Scotia (above) are arriving in the UK from their natural habitat in the Atlantic ocean off the Canadian and North American coast. 
 
 Species that would normally not be able to survive have managed the mammoth journey of several thousand miles are still alive when they get here. 
 
 Two species of tropical scallops were found living inside a plastic bait pot from the USA, said Dorset-based wildlife expert and photographer Steve Trewhella. 
 
 The scallops would have entered tiny holes in the pot as larvae and stayed protected within it, growing into fully-formed scallops by the time they reached Dorset. 
 
 Another recent find were three Columbus crabs living on an American or Canadian pot marker buoy. 
 
 Mr Trewhella said: 'The increase in marine litter and oceanic litter in general has carried species that could not live naturally in these waters. 
 
 'There is a very real possibility that marine litter - if it hasn't already - will introduce foreign species.
– Sensitive cruise-ship diners may be ordering lobster and having it tossed overboard in a "misguided effort of animal rights activism," Fox News reports. If true, experts say, it would explain why fishermen are finding Canadian lobsters off the coast of Northern England—some with elastic bands still around their claws. The problem: Homarus Americanus, which usually inhabit Atlantic waters off the North American coast, may not gel with lobsters some 3,500 miles away. "In fact they can do a lot of damage," a skipper tells the Yorkshire Post, adding that he last saw a Canadian lobster in British waters a couple of years ago. "I think it’s a good idea to study them as they could be giving English lobsters a disease." Experts say the traveling crustaceans either won't be able to interbreed or will create infertile offspring with local lobsters, the Daily Mail reports. And "they won't last much longer than if the passengers had eaten them for dinner," says Mike Cohen, a fishing industry rep. Cohen has heard on "common frequency radio" that cruise-ship passengers "buy a lobster from the live tanks and then ask the waiter to throw them overboard rather than eating it. The only ones that are found are large, plate-sized lobster." A fishing group and Hull University have agreed to study whether the dinner-escapees pose a health threat to local lobsters—but Cohen admits that a threat is unlikely. "This has been going on for a long time now and it does not seem to have happened," he tells the Telegraph.