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Lobster fishing

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Fishermen with their catch of the spiny lobster Jasus frontalis in the Juan Fernández Islands, Chile

Lobsters[Note 1] are widely fished around the world for their meat.[1] They are often hard to catch in large numbers, but their large size can make them a profitable catch.[1] Although the majority of the targeted species are tropical, the majority of the global catch is in temperate waters.[1]

Methods

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

Lobster pots

Main article: Lobster trap
A lobster pot

The large Homarus lobsters are caught almost exclusively with lobster pots (also called "lobster traps"). These are large rigid objects which the lobster enters voluntarily, often to reach bait, and which it then cannot escape.[2] 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.[3]

Trawling

Trawling is the main method used for the Norway lobster or Dublin Bay prawn, Nephrops norvegicus,[4] and for those slipper lobsters that prefer soft substrates, such as Thenus and Ibacus.[5] It has also become more frequently used in the fishery for Homarus americanus.[6]

Gill nets and trammel nets

Gill nets and trammel nets are used for the Caribbean spiny lobster, Panulirus argus.[7]

Hand-fishing and spearfishing

Slipper lobsters that prefer crevices, caves and reefs (including Scyllarides, Arctides and Parribacus species) are usually caught by SCUBA divers.[5]

Restrictions

Legal restrictions apply to the catching of lobsters in many parts of the world, in order to prevent overfishing and allow 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 seasons and limiting catches with individual fishing quotas.

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.[8]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ For the purposes of fisheries, the term "lobster" includes true lobsters (Nephropidae), spiny lobsters (Palinuridae), slipper lobsters (Scyllaridae), and several other groups of large long-bodied decapod crustaceans.

References

  1. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference MLW was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Lobster pot fishing". Fishing techniques. Food and Agriculture Organization. Retrieved June 21, 2012.
  3. ^ "Spiny lobster fishing with trap". Fishing techniques. Food and Agriculture Organization. Retrieved June 21, 2012.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Nephrops was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b "Family SCYLLARIDAE Latreille, 1825". Australian Faunal Directory. Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts. January 8, 2010.
  6. ^ "Homarus americanus (H. Milne Edwards, 1837)". FAO: Fisheries Global Information System (FIGIS). February 26, 2004.
  7. ^ "Spiny lobster gillnets and trammel nets fishing". Fishing techniques. Food and Agriculture Organization. Retrieved June 23, 2012.
  8. ^ "Success Stories: Lobster Trap Tags". TydenBrooks Security Seals.
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