Lobster fishing
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The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article or discuss the issue on the talk page. |
Lobster fishing is the commercial or recreational harvesting of marine lobsters, spiny lobsters or crayfish.
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[edit] Lobster fishing in the US
- See also: North American lobster industry
This is a major marine industry in the state of Maine, as well as other parts of the Northeastern United States.
Maine lobstermen fish for the American lobster, scientifically referred to as Homarus americanus. In Maine, lobsters can only be legally caught in lobster traps, also called pots. These traps are either rectangular-shaped or half cylinders and were once made from oak, but are now primarily made from wire mesh covered with a thick layer of plastic to reduce oxidation of the metal. Lobster traps are connected to the buoy with rope, known locally as pot warp. Sometimes there is a float called a toggle tied between the trap and the buoy to keep the rope tight so as to reduce the possibility of the rope wrapping around rocks on the bottom and becoming stuck. New laws are in the works to try and protect whales by making float "rope" used on the bottom on the lines (to protect the trap from becoming stuck and trapped on bottom, imprisoning large lobsters) illegal. It is unknown how much protection this will provide whales as the majority of dead whales found in the ocean have been killed by being run over by large tankers like oil barges [citation needed].
In southern California, lobster fishing for California spiny lobster is lucrative due to a huge market demand for lobster. Most commercial fishers use lobster traps. Their use is considered to be better than other collection techniques.
Lobster traps are rectangular-shaped boxes made out of wire mesh or wood coated with tar. A trap must have in it a 23⁄8×11½ inch-sized escape hole to allow under-sized lobsters to escape the trap. Every trap must also have a "self-destruction device" to allow its door to fall open after it has been out too long. Traps are sunk to the ocean bottom with weights and are baited with dead fish. Attached to every trap is a buoy labelled with the license number and name or initials of the fisherman who has set the trap.
Recreational lobster fishers in California must abide by a legal catch limit of seven lobsters per day and a minimal catch size of 3¼ inch long body measured from the eye socket to the edge of the carapace.The sport season for California spiny lobster starts on the Saturday preceding the first Wednesday in October through to the first Wednesday after the 15th of March.
Commercial fishers, while not bound to abide by any particular legal quota, must fish during lobster season, which starts on the first Wednesday in October through to the first Wednesday after the 15th of March. All commercial fishers must also keep a log of the exact number of legal and illegal lobster they catch.
Using lobster traps allows a fisher to harvest far more lobsters in the same amount of time than does scuba diving to catch lobster by hand. A fisher with one boat can set, pull, and reset well over 100 traps a day, making trapping a much more efficient means than diving. With the use of that many traps, a fisher could collect anywhere from 100 to 1000 lobsters. Moreover, using traps is not held back by some of the limits of scuba diving - water depth, the time a diver can remain underwater, and the water conditions during diving.
Areas in North America where lobster fishing is common include southern California, New England, and the Canadian Maritimes.
In South West Nova Scotia(District #34) you have a limit of 375 pots and the season runs from the last Monday of November to the end of May. There is no limit to the number of lobster caught per trap, but there are size restrictions. Undersized lobsters are called "tinkers" [citation needed].
As with all fisheries, individual states manage lobster fishing within their three-mile boundaries. In Maine, this job is done by the Maine Department of Marine Resources. Since lobsters caught near shore and offshore look exactly the same when they are loaded onto the dock, it is important that interstate and federal regulations complement each other. An organization called the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, formed in 1942, helps to do this. A compact of 15 eastern seaboard states, the Commission has three representatives from each state. These people include the Director of the state's marine resources management agency, a state legislator, and a fisheries representative appointed by the Governor. The member states are responsible for implementing the Commission Plan. The federal partners in lobster management are also part of the Commission process and work to complement the states efforts. Through the auspices of the National Marine Fisheries Service, federal regulations are adopted for lobster harvesting between three and 200 miles from shore, the United States' "economic zone". Currently, the American lobster is managed under Amendment 4.5 of the Commission's American Lobster Management Plan.
[edit] Target species and methods
| Target species | Method | Vessel | Target species details | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Lobster
 (American lobster) |
Traps Traps, large stationary nets or barrages or pots, are gears in which the fish are retained or enter voluntarily and will be hampered from escaping. |
Pot vessels | True lobsters are entirely marine. They inhabit shallow nearshore rocky or reef environments, rarely to 1000 metres depth. They are cryptic, hiding in rock crevices during the day and coming out at night to feed. American lobster is a sublitoral species to 480 m depth, most common in coastal waters between 4 and 50 m. Hard bottom (hard mud, rocks). | [1] |
Spiny lobster
|
Traps Traps, large stationary nets or barrages or pots, are gears in which the fish are retained or enter voluntarily and will be hampered from escaping. |
Pot vessels | Inhabits shallow waters, occasionally down to 90 m depth, perhaps even deeper. Found among rocks, on reefs, in eelgrass beds or in any habitat that provides protection. The species is gregarious and migratory. | [2] |
| Spiny lobster
|
Gill and trammel nets Gillnets and entangling nets are strings of single, double or triple netting walls, vertical, near by the surface, in midwater on on the bottom, in which fish will gill, entangle or enmesh. |
Gillnetters | Inhabits shallow waters, occasionally down to 90 m depth, perhaps even deeper. Found among rocks, on reefs, in eelgrass beds or in any habitat that provides protection. The species is gregarious and migratory. | [3] |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- The Lobster Fishery of Maine by John N. Cobb; Bulletin of the United States Fish Commission, Vol. 19, Pages 241-265, 1899; from Project Gutenberg
- Marine Fishing FAQ Written and sponsored by Kaitlyn Rumbolt
- Dangers of Entanglement During Lobstering, a publication from the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
- UNH Lobster Research: Monitoring The Offshore Lobster Fishery (lobsters.unh.edu)
- Atlantic Offshore Lobstermen's Association
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