Bands on Lobster Claws

[adam james]

Speaking from examining several thousand dungeness crab, the skeleton starts pretty hollow and fills in. When the storms were slamming us, the water pretty warm, we were pulling 3 crab per pound. Calm cold water a few weeks later the same size crab was four to six for 10 pounds.

My father is a lobster fisherman here on the atlantic coast of North America. My job for many years growing up was banding lobsters when they are first caught on the boat. I will say that when molting, and deeper water lobsters (over 100ft) were usually softer shelled, and softer shelled lobsters always had much less meat in them. The stuff that was always best for consumption was caught near the shore, in warmer water. This may be due to time of year (end of fall). The amount of meat usually was linked to how hard the shell was. I do not have any information on how banding affects muscle development though, only to say that i have been nailed by a 4lb lobster after the bands were removed and it still hurt like crazy LOL.

 

[cold blood]

Since this thread was recently added to this newly created aquatic invertebrate forum I might as well weigh in on it with an update.

Since this thread was posted I have learned that they can indeed re-acquire the use of their chela. However, it typically requires a molt or two to regain full use.

See Leon the Lobster on YouTube for video documentation of this.

The Leon saga was not only interesting, but highly informative.

It did take Leon a long time to re gain use of his claws that were banded.....it changed my views, and I now consider this banding to basically amount to cruelty. It also showed just how long many of them are captive before being bought at the store, as Leon was basically in the late stages of starvation.....explains why freshly caught lobsters are so much better for the table.

 

[darkness975]

The Leon saga was not only interesting, but highly informative.

It did take Leon a long time to re gain use of his claws that were banded.....it changed my views, and I now consider this banding to basically amount to cruelty. It also showed just how long many of them are captive before being bought at the store, as Leon was basically in the late stages of starvation.....explains why freshly caught lobsters are so much better for the table.

I love lobster. It is one of my favorite foods. I wish there was a better way to harvest without the banding. Also, they should feed them even if in the store. That way they are not only not being tortured and starved but also I am sure they would taste better.

I don't know why they don't feed them. Probably some stupid reason like not wanting to clean the tank or pay for the feed.

 

[cold blood]

I love lobster. It is one of my favorite foods. I wish there was a better way to harvest without the banding. Also, they should feed them even if in the store. That way they are not only not being tortured and starved but also I am sure they would taste better.

I don't know why they don't feed them. Probably some stupid reason like not wanting to clean the tank or pay for the feed.

The thing is, any store selling them would undoubtedly be throwing away fish and meat scraps at some point, so it's not like there would be costs incurred.....more likely they don't want to have to clean the tanks often.....which they should be if they are charging what they charge for us to eat from them.

 

[darkness975]

The thing is, any store selling them would undoubtedly be throwing away fish and meat scraps at some point, so it's not like there would be costs incurred.....more likely they don't want to have to clean the tanks often.....which they should be if they are charging what they charge for us to eat from them.

Exactly. Even ignoring the animal welfare aspect of it the food would taste far better if they were not starving.

 

[adam james]

The Leon saga was not only interesting, but highly informative.

It did take Leon a long time to re gain use of his claws that were banded.....it changed my views, and I now consider this banding to basically amount to cruelty. It also showed just how long many of them are captive before being bought at the store, as Leon was basically in the late stages of starvation.....explains why freshly caught lobsters are so much better for the table.

I love lobster. It is one of my favorite foods. I wish there was a better way to harvest without the banding. Also, they should feed them even if in the store. That way they are not only not being tortured and starved but also I am sure they would taste better.

I don't know why they don't feed them. Probably some stupid reason like not wanting to clean the tank or pay for the feed.

I love lobster as well. I always felt bad for them though, seeing that many (100+) in a crate getting carted off the boat. However where I am from (East Coast, Canada) it is regulated fairly well to maintain sustainability.

The banding from the fisherman's point of view is mostly to reduce losses, as when they are first caught and taken out of water they are understandably irritated and aggressive. combine that with stacking them on one another in a crate and it really becomes a bad situation for all involved if they are not banded. you would likely end up with 3/4 of the catch dead once they were done vice-gripping each other to death. A 3lb lobster can kill a standard sized 1lb lobster by cutting it in half with one pinch.