The Clock Counts Down On Lobster Season

Chefs in restaurants and home kitchens across the island will be busy over the next 24 hours as the clock counts down on the end of this lobster season, which runs from September 1 to March 31.

Lobster lovers have crowded the eastern end of Kindly Field Road over the past two Saturdays as well known local fisherman Gary Caisy of Sid’s Seafood has set up to sell the live crustaceans in the days leading up to the season end.

You must have a licence issued by Government in order to catch lobsters in season and the Department of Environmental Protection issues commercial lobster licences and recreational lobster licences annually with stringent guidelines.

According to the Department of Conservation’s website, Spiny Lobsters mate from mid-April to mid-May in Bermuda. In June the female lobsters move to the edge of the reef platform and release their eggs. Each lobster releases nearly a million eggs, but only a few will survive to become adults.

The female lobster carries her orange eggs around under her tail until they are ready to hatch. For this reason, female lobsters have an extra pair of ‘swimming legs’ under their tail.

The tiny eggs drift as plankton then hatch into spidery-looking baby lobsters. The babies drift and grow for about a year then settle in seagrass beds or mangrove roots to grow up.

During the day lobsters hide in the reef with only their antennae poking out, but at night they come out and actively search for food. Adult lobsters can be eaten by octopus, sharks, many kinds of fish, and of course, people.

#BermudaMarine #Cuisine #Lobster

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