ABOUT LOBSTERS 141 



plugged. Compare this method and its effect on the lob- 

 sters with the common method of dropping them into a 

 basket. True, they are usually protected from the sun by a 

 canvas cover, but they are in the hot summer air for much 

 of the day, and unquestionably weakened. Buying from the 

 lobsterman who keeps his lobsters in water would help the 

 reputation of the buyer, i.e., his lobsters would be premium 

 and would arrive in better shape at their destination. 

 Education again, and that is part of marketing. 



Waste and spoilage. The perishable food of all kinds 

 lost between the farm and the kitchen would feed millions 

 of people. Spoilage by bacteria and molds, damage from 

 rough handling, and deterioration in the quality all take 

 their toll. 



The same applies to lobstering, and the fault extends all 

 down the line, from the lobsterman who roughly chucks his 

 shorts overboard to fall with a splash on the water, or does 

 not take pains to gently put a seed lobster back into the sea; 

 to the buyer who harshly pulls apart two lobsters that are 

 clinging together, or overloads his tanks, or does not keep, 

 his pound clean; to the wholesaler who doesn't ice his ship- 

 ments adequately, or doesn't tank his lobsters before ship- 

 ping. 2 All these are to blame. 



It is sad to watch how some lobster buyers pack their 

 lobsters in crates for shipping. It is not known why a 

 shipper feels he has to cram each crate so full that the lid 

 has to be pressed down. Granted that some of the lobsters 

 will be shaken down by the jarring of the truck en route 

 to their destination, but some of them must travel in dis- 

 torted and unnatural positions. This cannot be good for 

 them. Undoubtedly some of them are in a pretty moribund 

 condition by the time the crates are pried open. Un- 

 doubtedly some of these never reach the customer. 



Much has been done to combat waste, such as the use 

 of better shipping containers and refrigerated trucks, better 

 control of disease, better methods of holding lobsters in tanks 



2 See page 36. 



