The spiny lobsters found in local waters are not likely to be affected by a disfiguring disease spreading among Atlantic lobsters in New England.

Senior Fisheries Officer at Bermuda?s Department of Environmental Protection Brian Luckhurst explained that the Bermuda spiny lobster and the Maine lobster are not only different species, but are in fact different families, with many factors differentiating them.

While both are lobsters, they are ?two quite different biological animals? and are not even closely related, he said. ?So you can?t always assume that a disease will travel from one family to another.?

While trying to keep tabs on all diseases affecting marine animals, the Department?s resources are limited and must be focused on the most pressing issues, he said.

The disease affecting the Atlantic lobsters is certainly ?of interest?, however unless it shows up in Bermuda, the Department will keep tabs on it through scientific literature.

Atlantic lobsters such as the Maine lobster are the most valuable commercial fishery on the US East Coast.

As many as 30 percent of those between Massachusetts and Long Island may have the disease, described as ?visible? and ?ugly? by a spokeswoman for the University of Rhode Island?s Sea Grant programme.

The disease pits and discolours the shell and can make the lobster unappetising to consumers, according to Sea Grant.

Maine?s chief lobster biologist Carl Wilson said it eats away at the lobster?s shell, giving it the appearance of having been burned with cigarettes.

However it does not affect the taste of the meat and it probably doesn?t affect humans, said Kathy Castro, Rhode Island Sea Grant?s director of the sustainable fisheries extension programme ? though she admitted very little research has been done.

While the disease is centred on the waters around Rhode Island, Massachusetts on both sides of Cape Cod, and eastern Long Island Sound, Ms Castro said infected lobsters have been found as far north as Canada and as far south as Maryland.

So far the local authorities have had no reports of the disease from local fishermen, who handle lobsters the most often and tend to be the first to raise alarms over any anomalies.

Depending on the nature of the pathogen a disease can be spread by currents, however it can also be spread via the importation of live marine animals, Dr. Luckhurst said.

For that reason the Department does not allow anyone to import live marine animals ? including New England lobsters ? save for those holding a special license from Government.

Those licenses are generally issued to only hotels and restaurants, a process which includes quarantines and the proper treatment of waste water, ?precisely to contain disease?, Dr. Luckhurst said. The system has been in place for years and ?seems to work quite well,? he added.