There are many restrictions and laws for catching lobsters in the ocean, lobsters are very well respected, maybe more than you think. Some laws include, undersized or oversized, fertilized lobsters, time of day or month, non-licensed, tagged lobster etc. In this blog we will go in depth on this topic to inform you what lobsters you are eating and what lobsters are being let back into their environment.
When fishing off the coast of Maine, and you are a non-commercial licensed lobster catcher, you are allowed to catch lobsters but not to distribute them. To get this license you have to be a Maine resident and complete an application and complete a test. There is a certain amount that you allowed to catch. So, only people with a non-commercial license can go an catch a few lobsters for their family for a nice meal, but not allowed to distribute.
When fishing for lobster of the coast of Maine, there is a set time to fish for lobster and when not to. When you are in the right hours of the day or month, you are now allowed to start fishing, just make sure the lobster is the right size!
In the state of Maine, all lobsters have to be a certain size to be caught, this is measured by a double-sided gauge to make sure they are in the size range, which is between 1¼ inches and 5 inches. The part the lobster this is measure is the extreme rear of the eye socket to the end of the carapace, also known as the body shell. If the lobster is the right size, you now have to make sure that it is not a female bearing eggs (female lobsters can bear up to 6,000 to 10,000 eggs at a time but only about 1% of those eggs will hatch to be a legal size lobster). If you have caught a lobster that is bearing eggs, you must tag or notch the lobster, this is a little V cut that you make in the lobster tail fins. The reason this is for the next fishermen who catches will have to let it back go into the ocean. The fine for possession of a notched lobster can be $500 or more.
There are many more laws for fishing for lobsters in the east coast of Maine, these are the Maine laws that you NEED to know if you are a licensed lobster fisherman in Maine. Only certain lobsters are allowed to be caught in Maine, many lobsters are always being let back into the ocean of Maine. We (Lobster Taxi) only get our lobsters and seafood from fishermen that we trust.
