Early Native Americans once used Maine Lobsters to fertilize their crops. Journal writings of colonists as early as 1605 talk about the plentiful catch of lobsters. In Colonial times, there are many reports of lobsters being served only to the poor, prisoners, and indentured servants. Contracts have been found where servants have demanded that lobster not be served any more than three times per week.

Maine Lobster is not apparent as a state commerce until the 1840's. New York and Boston had started to demand lobster, this was the beginning of the specialization of lobstering as a harvest. Due to the inability of keeping the lobsters alive out of water for very long, the canning industry flourished. Eastport had the first cannery, and soon twenty-three more popped up between there and Portland. In 1860, canneries were processing four and five pound lobsters. At that time, five pound lobsters were considered small. Within twenty years, canneries were processing lobsters that were less than a pound. This caused the need for the preservation laws in the lobstering industry. The canning industry did not survive this, but the want for lobster did. Vinalhaven, an island off the coast of Rockland, had the first known lobster pound around 1875. Because the pound made it possible for lobsters to remain alive, the modern lobster industry was created.

Today, many lobster dealers have pounds along the coastline of Maine. Some sea tradesmen have smacks (large floats at sea on which lobstermen and lobster dealers buy and sell theirs lobsters)that they travel out to daily. Three Sons Lobster & Fish is one of those true Maine Lobster Dealerships.

Lobster Life

The Homarus Americanus, better known as the Maine Lobster, can be found from the North in Labrador all the way south to North Carolina. Mostly, Maine Lobsters are found in the Gulf of Maine in the Atlantic Ocean. Generally, Maine Lobsters prefer to inhabit on a rocky or muddy bottom in colder water. They spend a large amount of time hiding in crevices.

Maine Lobsters have eight walking legs and eight swimmerettes (short, fan-like "legs") to scavenge the ocean floor in a forward movement. Backward swimming is done by using the tail as a scoop and propelling backwards (rather quickly, too). Lobsters eat what ever they can catch: crabs, fish, clams, and luckily for us, bait in a lobster trap. Little appendages pull the food to their mouth-like jaw, where it is shredded and swallowed. The stomach of the lobster digests the food with the help of teeth-like chewers.Maine Lobsters excrete both liquid and solid wastes. Liquid wastes are released through a hole by the antennae , while solid waste is released in an opening in the underpart of the tail.

Lobsters grow by molting, or shedding their shells. Lobsters molt 25-30 times in the first seven years of life. This is how long it takes to get to the harvesting size (in Maine). After that, Maine Lobsters molt once per year which increases their size by approximately one-quarter pound. When a lobster molts, the new shell is like jelly. The lobster hides out because this is when a lobster is most vulnerable. Often, the lobster eats the molted shell which seems to quicken the hardening of the new shell. You will hear lobsters referred to as hard (or old) shell or soft (or new) shell. Hard shell lobsters last longer for transportation and appear to have more meat. Soft shell lobster is cheaper because it does not travel as well and the meat is condensed to protect itself during molting.

During mating, the female chooses the male (usually the largest and most dominant), and excretes a substance that wafts into the males den. After a few days of courting type behavior, and a wrestling type match, the male fertilizes the females eggs. The female carries the fertilized eggs with her up to nine or ten months (depending on the water temperature). The warmer the water, the shorter she carries them. At this point the eggs are called Roe and are considered a delicacy by many. Depending on the age of the female lobster, she could release anywhere from 600 to 100,000 eggs. Once released from her tail, the larvae must face a vicious world. It is estimated that only one-tenth of one percent of the eggs released survive to the minimum legal size. At first a baby lobster looks like a sand flea. It is not until they have molted at least four times that the newborn resembles what we see in the cooking pot.

Thanks to John McCann for letting us take pictures!