140 ABOUT LOBSTERS 



Standards. Other industries have recognized standards 

 for their products, and the seller lives up to these stand- 

 ards, and guarantees they are a specified grade. The lobster 

 industry has a few standards such as " large," " select," 

 " chicken," and " culls." But there is no designation show- 

 ing how many days since a lobster has molted, i.e., how soft 

 is its shell, or how many days it has been kept in a tank or 

 pound, i.e., how freshly caught, or any designation from how 

 deep water it has come ( anyone would prefer a lobster from 

 the deep, cold water of Maine to one caught in the warmer, 

 shallow water of Hingham Harbor), or even if lobster meat 

 comes from a freshly cooked, vigorous specimen or from a 

 tired lobster culled out of a tank. This lack of standards 

 benefits the careless handler, or the unscrupulous dealer. So 

 poor are the standards that South African lobster tails are 

 commonly advertised and sold as lobster meat— and they 

 are not lobsters at all, but crawfish. 



When dealers can be brought together to agree on 

 designations for different grades, the whole industry will 

 benefit. 



Premium lobsters. Some districts catch premium lob- 

 sters, usually so called because they are larger. There isn't 

 much the lobsterman can do about this, unless the sup- 

 posedly larger size of Monhegan lobsters is due to the volun- 

 tary limitations of the fishing season. In contrast, there are 

 a few harbors which have the reputation of an inferior 

 catch— too many culls. The middleman can aid in the pro- 

 duction of premium lobsters. Of course, he can do this by 

 buying the fresher, stronger catch, but he can also do it by 

 greater care in handling and storing them in his tanks. It is 

 surprising to see the large number of dead lobsters removed 

 in the morning from one buyer's tanks as compared with 

 those of a buyer who handles them better. This is a matter 

 of education. 



A careful buyer will take note of how the lobsterman 

 handles his catch. A few topnotch lobstermen keep a half 

 barrel in their cockpits and pump sea water into it continu- 

 ously. The lobsters go into this barrel as soon as they are 



