View source for Lobster fishing

[[File:Isla Juan Fernandez- Langostas (Lobsters).jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Fishermen with their catch of the [[spiny lobster]] ''[[Jasus frontalis]]'' in the [[Juan Fernández Islands]], [[Chile]]]]

[[Lobster]]s{{#tag:ref|For the purposes of fisheries, the term "lobster" includes [[lobster|clawed lobsters]] (Nephropidae), [[spiny lobster]]s (Palinuridae), [[slipper lobster]]s (Scyllaridae), and several other groups of large long-bodied decapod crustaceans.|group=Note}} are widely fished around the world for their meat.<ref name="MLW"/> They are often hard to catch in large numbers, but their large size can make them a profitable catch.<ref name="MLW"/> Although the majority of the targeted species are tropical, the majority of the global catch is in temperate waters.<ref name="MLW"/>

==Methods==
Several methods are used to catch lobsters, with the method depending largely on the species being targeted.

===Lobster pots===
{{main|Lobster trap}}
[[File:Lobster trap.jpg|thumb|right|A [[lobster trap|lobster pot]]]]
The large ''[[Homarus]]'' lobsters are caught almost exclusively with [[lobster trap|lobster pots]] (also called "lobster traps"). These are large rigid objects which the lobster enters voluntarily, often to reach [[Bait (luring substance)|bait]], and which it then cannot escape.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=[[Food and Agriculture Organization]] |url=http://www.fao.org/fishery/fishtech/1072/en |title=Lobster pot fishing |work=Fishing techniques |accessdate=June 21, 2012}}</ref> Traps are also used in some spiny lobster fisheries, such as the fishery for the [[California spiny lobster]], ''Panulirus interruptus'', in the eastern Pacific Ocean.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=[[Food and Agriculture Organization]] |url=http://www.fao.org/fishery/fishtech/1102/en |title=Spiny lobster fishing with trap |work=Fishing techniques |accessdate=June 21, 2012}}</ref>

===Trawling===
[[Trawling]] is the main method used for the Norway lobster or Dublin Bay prawn, ''[[Nephrops norvegicus]]'',<ref name="Nephrops"/> and for those slipper lobsters that prefer soft [[substrate (biology)|substrates]], such as ''[[Thenus]]'' and ''[[Ibacus]]''.<ref name="AFD">{{cite web |url=http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/abrs/online-resources/fauna/afd/taxa/SCYLLARIDAE |work=[[Australian Faunal Directory]] |publisher=[[Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts]] |date=January 8, 2010 |title=Family SCYLLARIDAE Latreille, 1825}}</ref> It has also become more frequently used in the fishery for ''Homarus americanus''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fao.org/fishery/species/2647/en |title=''Homarus americanus'' (H. Milne Edwards, 1837) |publisher=[[Food and Agriculture Organization|FAO]]: Fisheries Global Information System (FIGIS) |date=February 26, 2004}}</ref>

===Gill nets and trammel nets===
[[Gill net]]s and [[trammel net]]s are used for the Caribbean spiny lobster, ''[[Panulirus argus]]''.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=[[Food and Agriculture Organization]] |url=http://www.fao.org/fishery/fishtech/1103/en |title=Spiny lobster gillnets and trammel nets fishing |work=Fishing techniques |accessdate=June 23, 2012}}</ref>

===Hand-fishing and spearfishing===
[[Image:BASA-1221K-1-48-9.jpg|thumb|Austro-hungarian soldiers catching crayfish, [[WWI]]]]
Slipper lobsters that prefer crevices, caves and [[reef]]s (including ''[[Scyllarides]]'', ''[[Arctides]]'' and ''[[Parribacus]]'' species) are usually caught by [[Scuba diving|SCUBA divers]].<ref name="AFD"/>

==Restrictions==
Legal restrictions apply to the catching of lobsters in many parts of the world, in order to prevent [[overfishing]] and allow [[recruitment (biology)|recruitment]] to the next generation. Common restrictions include the provision of a [[minimum landing size]], preventing fishermen from catching "berried" females (females carrying eggs), [[closed season]]s and limiting catches with [[individual fishing quota]]s.

Commercial fishing regulators in the United States, such as the [[Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission]] and the [[National Marine Fisheries Service]], enforce restrictions through the use of lobster fishing licenses and lobster pot tags that correspond to the fisher's permit number. Tag manufacturers also maintain databases for each state's licensed fisheries, tracking how many tags each fisher purchases every year.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=TydenBrooks Security Seals |url=http://www.tydenbrooks.com/Newsroom/Success-Stories/Lobster-Tags.aspx |title=Success Stories: Lobster Trap Tags}}</ref>

==Distribution and species==
{{Multiple image
| direction = vertical
| align = right
| width = 220
| header = Principal commercial lobster species
| image1 = R0023623 - Flickr - NOAA Photo Library.jpg
| caption1 = ''[[Homarus americanus]]'' (American or Maine lobster)
| image2 = Nephrops norvegicus.jpg
| caption2 = ''[[Nephrops norvegicus]]'' (Norway lobster, Dublin Bay prawn, langoustine or scampi)
| image3 = Panulirus argus.jpg
| caption3 = ''[[Panulirus argus]]'' (Caribbean spiny lobster)
}}

Of the 280,000 tons of lobster catches reported to the [[Food and Agriculture Organization]] for the year 2010, 188,000&nbsp;t (67%) was of [[lobster|true lobsters]] (family Nephropidae), 80,000&nbsp;t (28%) was of [[spiny lobster]]s (Palinuridae) and about 10,000&nbsp;t (4%) was of [[slipper lobster]]s (Scyllaridae).<ref name="FIGIS">{{cite web |url=http://www.fao.org/fishery/statistics/global-capture-production/query/en |title=Global Capture Production 1950–2010 |publisher=[[Food and Agriculture Organization]] |work=FIGIS |accessdate=June 21, 2012}}</ref>

{|class="wikitable sortable"
! FAO common name !! Scientific name !! Catch in 2010 (t) <ref name="FIGIS"/>
|-
| American lobster || ''[[Homarus americanus]]'' ||align="right"| 115651
|-
| Norway lobster || ''[[Nephrops norvegicus]]'' ||align="right"| 66544
|-
| Caribbean spiny lobster || ''[[Panulirus argus]]'' ||align="right"| 35642
|-
| Tropical spiny lobsters nei{{#tag:ref|"Nei" = not elsewhere included.|group=Note|name="nei"}} || ''[[Panulirus]]'' ||align="right"| 22128
|-
| Japanese fan lobster || ''[[Ibacus ciliatus]]'' ||align="right"| 9114
|-
| Australian spiny lobster || ''[[Panulirus cygnus]]'' ||align="right"| 5502
|-
| European lobster || ''[[Homarus gammarus]]'' ||align="right"| 5083
|-
| Southern rock lobster || ''[[Jasus novaehollandiae]]'' ||align="right"| 4368
|-
| Cape rock lobster || ''[[Jasus lalandii]]'' ||align="right"| 3418
|-
| Red rock lobster || ''[[Jasus edwardsii]]'' ||align="right"| 2871
|-
| Lobsters nei<ref name="nei" group="Note"/> || [[Reptantia]] ||align="right"| 2577
|-
| Longlegged spiny lobster || ''[[Panulirus longipes]]'' ||align="right"| 2303
|-
| Palinurid spiny lobsters nei<ref name="nei" group="Note"/> || ''[[Palinurus (genus)|Palinurus]]'' ||align="right"| 1132
|-
| Flathead lobster || ''[[Thenus orientalis]]'' ||align="right"| 924
|-
| New Zealand lobster || ''[[Metanephrops challengeri]]'' ||align="right"| 825
|-
| Southern spiny lobster || ''[[Palinurus gilchristi]]'' ||align="right"| 734
|-
| Common spiny lobster || ''[[Palinurus elephas]]'' ||align="right"| 449
|-
| Tristan da Cunha rock lobster || ''[[Jasus tristani]]'' ||align="right"| 403
|-
| St. Paul rock lobster || ''[[Jasus paulensis]]'' ||align="right"| 390
|-
| Spiny lobsters nei<ref name="nei" group="Note"/> || [[Spiny lobster|Palinuridae]] ||align="right"| 306
|}

===Atlantic Ocean===
About 122,000&nbsp;t of lobsters are caught in the north [[Atlantic Ocean]] (FAO Fishing Areas 21 and 27),<ref name="MLW">{{cite book |author=[[Lipke Holthuis]] |year=1991 |title=Marine Lobsters of the World |chapter=Introduction |series=FAO species catalogue |volume=13 |url=ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/009/t0411e/t0411e02.pdf |format=[[Portable Document Format|PDF]] |publisher=[[Food and Agriculture Organization]] |location=Rome, Italy |isbn=92-5-103027-8 |pages=1–16}}</ref> where the dominant species are ''[[Homarus americanus]]'' and ''[[Nephrops norvegicus]]''.

The [[State of Maine]] accounts for 57,000 t of [[Homarus americanus]] landings valued at $450 million.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Guildford|first1=Gwynn|title=The enigma behind America’s freak, 20-year lobster boom|url=http://qz.com/506376/lobsters-2/|accessdate=6 October 2015|work=[[Quartz (publication)]]|publisher=[[Atlantic Media]]|date=6 October 2015}}</ref> 

''N.&nbsp;norvegicus'' is mostly caught by trawling. Around 60,000&nbsp;[[tonne]]s are caught annually, half of it in the [[United Kingdom]]'s [[Exclusive Economic Zone|waters]].<ref name="Nephrops">{{cite web |url=http://www.fao.org/fishery/species/2647/en |title=''Nephrops norvegicus'' (Linnaeus, 1758) |publisher=[[Food and Agriculture Organization|FAO]]: Fisheries Global Information System (FIGIS) |date=February 26, 2004}}</ref> Discards from ''Nephrops'' fishery may account for up to 37% of the [[ecological energetics|energy requirements]] of certain marine [[scavenger]]s, such as the [[hagfish]] ''[[Myxine glutinosa]]''.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Importance of discards from the English ''Nephrops norvegicus'' fishery in the North Sea to marine scavengers |journal=[[Marine Ecology Progress Series]] |volume=313 |pages=215–226 |year=2006 |url=http://www.cefas.co.uk/publications/publication-abstract.aspx?abstract=4321 |author=T. L. Catchpole, C. L. J. Frid & T. S. Gray |doi=10.3354/meps313215 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080530010830/http://www.cefas.co.uk/publications/publication-abstract.aspx?abstract=4321 |archivedate=2008-05-30 |df= }}</ref> Boats involved in ''Nephrops'' fishery also catch a number of fish species such as [[European plaice|plaice]] and [[Common sole|sole]], and it is thought that without that revenue, ''Nephrops'' fishery would be economically unviable.<ref>{{cite journal |title=A study of the options for utilization of bycatch and discards from marine capture fisheries: 9.1.2 ''Nephrops'' |author=Ivor Clucas |year=1997 |journal=FAO Fisheries Circular |volume=No. 928 |pages=FIIU/C928 |url=http://www.fao.org/docrep/W6602E/w6602E09.htm}}</ref>

The European lobster, ''[[Homarus gammarus]]'' is found across the north-eastern Atlantic Ocean from northern [[Norway]] to the [[Azores]] and [[Morocco]].  Homarus gammarus is mostly fished using [[lobster trap|lobster pots]], although [[Handline fishing|lines]] [[Fishing bait|baited]] with [[octopus]] or [[cuttlefish]] sometimes succeed in tempting them out, to allow them to be caught in a net or by hand.<ref name="MLW"/> In 2008, 4,386&nbsp;t of ''H.&nbsp;gammarus'' were caught across Europe and North Africa, of which 3,462&nbsp;t (79%) was caught in the [[British Isles]] (including the [[Channel Islands]]).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fao.org/fishery/statistics/global-production/en |title=Fishery Statistical Collections. Global Production |work=Fisheries Global Information System |publisher=[[Food and Agriculture Organization]] |accessdate=September 30, 2010}}</ref> The [[minimum landing size]] for ''H.&nbsp;gammarus'' is a carapace length of {{convert|87|mm|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite web|title=Minimum fish sizes |url=http://www.defra.gov.uk/foodfarm/fisheries/documents/fisheries/minimumfishsizes.pdf |archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20091106034638/http://www.defra.gov.uk/foodfarm/fisheries/documents/fisheries/minimumfishsizes.pdf |dead-url=yes |archive-date=November 6, 2009 |format=[[Portable Document Format|PDF]] |publisher=[[Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs]] |accessdate=September 30, 2010 }}</ref>

===Caribbean Sea===
In the [[Caribbean Sea]], the main species targeted by lobster fisheries is the Caribbean spiny lobster, ''[[Panulirus argus]]''.

===Eastern Pacific Ocean===
The most important lobster species on the West Coast of the United States is the [[California spiny lobster]], ''Panulirus interruptus''.<ref name="MLW_interruptus">{{cite book |url=http://nlbif.eti.uva.nl/bis/lobsters.php?menuentry=soorten&id=209 |chapter=''Panulirus interruptus'' |title=FAO Species Catalogue, Volume 13. Marine Lobsters of the World |author=[[Lipke Holthuis|Lipke B. Holthuis]] |publisher=[[Food and Agriculture Organization]] |year=1991 |isbn=92-5-103027-8 |series=FAO Fisheries Synopsis No. 125}}</ref> Recreational lobster fishers in California must abide by a legal catch limit of seven lobsters per day and a minimal catch size of 3¼&nbsp;inch long body measured from the eye socket to the edge of the [[carapace]].<ref name="CDFG">{{cite web |url=http://www.dfg.ca.gov/marine/pdfs/lobsterbrochure.pdf |title=California Spiny Lobster: fishing and life history information |publisher=[[California Department of Fish and Game]] |accessdate=April 12, 2010 |format=[[Portable Document Format|PDF]]}}</ref> 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.<ref name="CDFG"/> Commercial fishers use [[lobster trap]]s.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=10770 |title=Commercial Fishing Digest for 2009-2010 |publisher=[[California Department of Fish and Game]] |accessdate=April 12, 2010 |format=[[Portable Document Format|PDF]] |chapter=Lobster |pages=53–55}}</ref>

===New Zealand===
{{Main|Fishing industry in New Zealand}}
[[New Zealand]] implements the [[Quota Management System]] (QMS) to limit catches of fish and [[shellfish]]. Under QMS, a limit of {{convert|2807364|kg}} for the rock lobster ''[[Jasus edwardsii]]'', and {{convert|1291000|kg|abbr=on}} for the New Zealand scampi, ''[[Metanephrops challengeri]]'', were in place in 2011.<ref name="NZFish">{{Cite web |url=http://fs.fish.govt.nz/Page.aspx?pk=7&tk=100&sc=CRA |title=Spiny red rock lobster (CRA) |work=New Zealand Fisheries information website |publisher=[[Ministry of Fisheries (New Zealand)|Ministry of Fisheries]] |accessdate=April 4, 2011}}</ref> [[Recreational fishing|Recreational fishers]] may only gather by hand or use [[lobster pot]]s, while [[commercial fishery|commercial fishers]] catch lobsters by [[trawling]]. The total catch in 2011 was {{convert|2539946|kg|abbr=on}} of ''J. edwardsii'', {{convert|350194|kg|abbr=on}} of ''M. challengeri'', and {{convert|23086|kg|abbr=on}} of ''[[Sagmariasus verreauxi]]''.<ref name="NZFish"/>

Recreational fishing of lobsters ("crayfishing") in New Zealand does not require a permit provided catch limits, size restrictions, and seasonal and local restrictions set by the [[Ministry for Primary Industries (New Zealand)|Ministry for Primary Industries]] (MPI) are followed. The legal recreational daily limit is six lobsters per person, with a maximum of three lobster pots permitted per person. Lobsters cannot be taken if they are in berry (carrying eggs) or in the soft shell stage.  For ''J. edwardsii'', the minimum legal size is 54&nbsp;mm for males (no pincers on the rear legs and single pleopods) and 60&nbsp;mm for females (pincers on the rear legs and paired pleopods), measuring the width of the tail over the primary splines on the second segment.<ref>{{cite web |title= Stuck between a rock and a hard place? Getting to grips with handling and measuring lobster |url= http://www.fish.govt.nz/NR/rdonlyres/9E66E827-F8E2-4F08-8ABE-4F33ACB9A0AB/0/60210MOFRockLobsterBro.pdf |publisher= Fisheries, New Zealand Ministry of Primary Industries |date= June 2008 |accessdate= 1 June 2013}}</ref>

===Australia===
A number of species are targeted around the coasts of Australia. ''[[Jasus edwardsii]]'' is found off Australia's southern coast, from [[Western Australia]] to [[New South Wales]], as well as in New Zealand. ''[[Thenus orientalis]]'', known as the Moreton Bay bug, is fished on the country's north coast.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://nlbif.eti.uva.nl/bis/lobsters.php?menuentry=soorten&id=205 |chapter=''Thenus orientalis'' |work=FAO Species Catalogue, Volume 13 |title=Marine Lobsters of the World |author=Lipke B. Holthuis |publisher=[[Food and Agriculture Organization]] |year=1991 |isbn=92-5-103027-8 |series=FAO Fisheries Synopsis No. 125 |authorlink=Lipke Holthuis |pages=227–228}}</ref>

==Safety==
Lobster fishing is considered a hazardous occupation by [[National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health|NIOSH]]. Lobster fishermen who become entangled in their trap line are at risk of drowning if they are pulled overboard. Best practices have been developed to prevent and reduce entanglement, and to facilitate getting fishermen who have fallen overboard back onto their vessels.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/wp-solutions/2005-137/|title=Dangers of Entaglement During Lobstering (2005-137)|last=|first=|date=June 6, 2014|website=CDC - NIOSH Publications and Products|publisher=|access-date=2016-07-15}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[List of harvested aquatic animals by weight]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=Note}}

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Portal|Fishing|Crustaceans}}
* [https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/wp-solutions/2005-137/ Dangers of Entanglement During Lobstering], a publication from the U.S. [[National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health]]
* [http://lobsterconservation.com/ Lobster Conservation]
* [http://www.parl.ns.ca/lobster/history.htm History of Lobster Fishing and Processing]
* [http://www.gma.org/lobsters/allaboutlobsters/lobsterhistory.html Lobstering History]
* [http://www.gutenberg.org/files/17475/17475-h/17475-h.htm#11 ''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]]

{{fishery science topics|expanded=science}}
{{commercial fish topics}}

[[Category:Recreational fishing]]
[[Category:True lobsters]]
[[Category:Achelata]]
[[Category:Fishing industry]]