Lobster fishing

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A traditional Maine lobster boat, used to haul and maintain the lobster traps.

Lobster fishing is the commercial or recreational harvesting of marine lobsters or spiny lobsters. This is a major marine industry in the state of Maine, as well as other northeastern ports.

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.

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 or cat food. Attached to every trap is a buoy labelled with the letter P followed by the license number of the fisher 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 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.