BUZZARDS BAY, Mass. (AP) — New England’s lobster fishermen are being asked to keep an eye out for tagged lobsters that are part of a survey of the valuable crustaceans.

The lobsters are tagged with green bars that say “SNECVTS” and black acoustic tags. They are part of a tagging program that’s part of a southern New England lobster study being conducted from May to November by Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation and the University of Rhode Island.

The study is designed to find out about lobster and Jonah crab abundance and distribution in the RI/MA Wind Energy Area, which is located south of Rhode Island and Massachusetts, in the area of Cox’s Ledge.

There are cash rewards available for finding the tagged lobsters.

The southern New England lobster population has plummeted in recent years.