Dedication to quality and sustainability are a big part of the Maine lobster industry. From trap to tank, learn what’s in store on a Maine lobster boat tour.
By Aimee Tucker
Aug 21 2020
Hauling up a lobster trap.
Photo Credit : Aimee SeaveyWhen the breeding female is first caught by a commercial lobsterman, she’s also given a “v-notch” on her tail flipper to identify and protect her as a known breeder. That way, even when her eggs have hatched, the notch will tell other lobstermen of her breeder status, so they’ll know to put her back. This notching practice dates back to the early 1900s!
Our lady lobster did not yet have a v-notch, so Captain Dave gave her one. This lobster boat tour was a working tour! It is always on the first tail flipper to the right of the middle flipper.
Some of the lobsters in our traps were young things and went back into the ocean (phew!) Most traps also contain a lively variety of marine life that have made their way inside and then couldn’t get out. Some common visitors include rock crabs, snails, starfish, and hermit crabs. If a lobster met the size criteria, its claws were banded with a handy lobster claw band tool, and then it went into the on-board tank. Banding the claws not only protects the lobsterman, but the other lobsters. Lobsters don’t normally eat one another, but in captivity, with limited food and cramped quarters, well, they might…if they can. Thus, the bands. After all of our traps had been checked and re-set, we motored back toward Portland with a few extra scuttling lobsters on board. Mission complete! The lobster boat tour experience left me with a deeper understanding of why a lobster dinner is such a treat. Yes, lobster is expensive, but it has to be in order to compensate for the labor and loss it takes to get it. The Maine lobsters on our plates have been hand-harvested from a wild environment following a strict set of size requirements. This often means that most of what comes on board in the trap goes right back into the ocean (including what’s left of the bait, much to the seagulls’ delight). How many other industries can claim such commitment to sustainability? Equally impressive are the incredibly hardworking Maine men and women, many of them part of multi-generational lobstering families, doing the harvesting. Maine has more than 5,600 independent lobstermen, making it (no surprise) is the largest lobster-producing region in the world. In 2014, they brought in more than 120 million pounds of lobster! In fact, the industry brings more than 1 billion dollars to the state’s economy each year. No wonder lobsters are everywhere in Maine — not just on menus, but license plates, at the annual Maine Lobster Festival in Rockland, and on every kind of souvenir. The only thing we can’t seem to agree on is whether the tail or claw meat is better. Have you ever been on a lobster boat tour? Want more Maine lobster? Check out my recap of another stop on the Maine Lobster Immersion experience, a visit to one of Maine’s most beloved spots for lobster, fried clams, and picture-perfect views: The Clam Shack | Kennebunk, Maine Already planning your summer lobster shack road trip? Check out our guide to the 12 Best Lobster Shacks in New England Thanks to the MLMC and Lucky Catch Cruises for a terrific Maine lobster boat tour experience! Lucky Catch Cruises. 170 Commercial Street, Portland. 207-761-0941; luckycatch.com. Catch a lobster boat tour the first weekend of May through the last weekend in October. This post was first published in 2016 and has been updated.Aimee Tucker is Yankee Magazine’s Home Editor and the Senior Digital Editor of NewEngland.com. A lifelong New Englander and Yankee contributor since 2010, Aimee has written columns devoted to history, foliage, retro food, and architecture, and regularly shares her experiences in New England travel, home, and gardening. Her most memorable Yankee experiences to date include meeting Stephen King, singing along to a James Taylor Fourth of July concert at Tanglewood, and taking to the skies in the Hood blimp for an open-air tour of the Massachusetts coastline.
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