4. Discussion overall, mating success was relatively high in all six samp ling regions, particularly considering that the size range we sampled encompassed many presumably immature lobsters. In the four GOM sampling regions, there was no indication that mature females were failing to mate. In fact, in these areas, the unex- pectedly high occurrence of smaller females with spermatophores suggests that there may be more mating activity than anticipated based on existing maturity data. In the SNE sampling regions, represented by the two Rhode Island regions. there were some presumably mature females that were not SP, particularly in the Narragansett Bay region.