Well, I had often heard the stories from when my Dad, as a young boy, would complain when his father brought home another bag of lobsters for dinner, saying “Oh,no! Not lobsters again …” Back then a can of beans cost more than a can of lobster. It was so cheap it was routinely fed to inmates in prison, or even ground up for fertilizer. Yes, that was then. Today we celebrate National Lobster Day 2019 and pat ourselves on the back for creating the sustainable lobster industry which provides us with an abundance of the wonderful creatures will all love to eat .
Eat More Lobster
So celebrate National Lobster Day today by putting together a family dinner, fill the kettle with lobster, and have a lobster feast. These days, no matter where you live, lobster is just a web site visit away. If your not in Maine or New England, fresh Maine lobster can be shipped right to your door using any number of online lobster delivery services.
Lobster Fisherman
And while we are at, let’s give kudos to the Maine lobster industry, especially the fisherman who do the hard hauling and brave the elements to bring us our lobster. The Maine industry has taken sustainability to new levels. The achievement is the result of a strong partnership among the government, the fisherman and the dealers.
Notching Female Lobster
The industry stays in the forefront of conservation and regulation to ensure an abundant, healthy supply of Maine lobster. And there is much to celebrate: Maine lobstermen in 2018 caught 120 million pounds of lobster valued at more than $484 million, up 8 million pounds from 2017. That is the third largest catch on record.
We should all take notice too that harvesting lobster has not changed in 125 years. The fisherman still haul them in by hand, one lobster trap at a time. Each lobster is examined, measured and thrown back if too small or if it is a female with eggs. The egg bearing female has the tail notched before being returned to the ocean. This means that notched female lobster will never ever make it to the kettle as all the fisherman will honor the notch and toss the lobster back.
National Lobster Day 2019 – Eat More Lobster
So pick out a Maine lobster recipe, heat up the kettle and eat more lobster.
© Wayne Howe 2019