Who knew? The lobsterpersons are essentially
farming the lobsters.

http://modernfarmer.com/2014/12/main...bster-farmers/

On Thu, 25 Dec 2014 16:24:07 -0800, Mark Thorson >
wrote:

>Who knew? The lobsterpersons are essentially
>farming the lobsters.
>
>http://modernfarmer.com/2014/12/main...bster-farmers/

Very interesting. The lobster catch has been good and the distributors
have tried to keep the price up. but it has been good for the
consumer. At least here in New England. The past couple of summers,
lobster rolls have been on the menu of even low end diners.

December is a big month for lobster sales. January not far behind.

Ed Pawlowski wrote:
>
> Mark Thorson >
> wrote:
> >http://modernfarmer.com/2014/12/main...bster-farmers/
>
> Very interesting. The lobster catch has been good and the distributors
> have tried to keep the price up. but it has been good for the
> consumer. At least here in New England.

Not here in Virginia. The price of lobster (at my main grocery store)
has risen in the past year or two. Live lobster was $12.99/lb for many
years but within this past year or so price has risen to 14.99 lb.
Some people are making a lot of money along the line between fisherman
and consumer.

Years ago, while visiting in Bar Harbor, we went to the lobster
hatchery. They explained that lobstermen were required by law to bring
"berried" lobsters to them. Those were females with obvious eggs.

Those eggs were already fertilized and the lobster hatchery would keep
the eggs until they hatched and hatchlings were of a size where they
would sink to the bottom of the ocean so that they would have a better
chance of survival.

We were able to look at tiny, newly hatched lobsters and they looked
exactly like full-grown ones, but microscopic.

It was a fascinating tour.

--
From somewhere very deep in the heart of Texas

wrote:
> As a diver and catcher of lobsters, I think that is hooey. All the
> spikes on the shell get hung up on the traps, they can't get in and
> out easily.

Did you dive with scuba or just snorkel and dive down in the time of
holding your breath?

I tried the diving with snorkel and flashlight one night with a
friend.
Ever dive in the ocean at night? OH MAN. It's extremely scary! I
came right back up and got the hell out of the ocean. heheh

wrote:
>
> Unfortunately it is middle men, the lobster fishermen have equipment
> to maintain and a rotten job. When I lived by the ocean I could see
> our fisherman out there in all weather lifting, checking traps, not a
> job of preference
>
> We put our order in for lobsters with the local fisherman near my
> younger daughters home and we are paying around $2 per lb.

If you are paying $2 per pound, you should give them a huge
tip....like 100% or more. I would.

My store sells them for $15 per pound. I would gladly give a
fisherman way more than $2/lb.

Way back when I lived in Newport, RI (1971), I could buy them on the
dock for $1/lb and this was from the guy that bought them from the
fishermen.

On 12/26/2014 6:16 AM, Gary wrote:

> Not here in Virginia. The price of lobster (at my main grocery store)
> has risen in the past year or two. Live lobster was $12.99/lb for many
> years but within this past year or so price has risen to 14.99 lb.
> Some people are making a lot of money along the line between fisherman
> and consumer.
>

A few stores are getting $10 or so, but I've been able to get them for
$4.99 at Market Basket on a regular basis.

Ed Pawlowski wrote:
>
> On 12/26/2014 6:16 AM, Gary wrote:
>
> > Not here in Virginia. The price of lobster (at my main grocery store)
> > has risen in the past year or two. Live lobster was $12.99/lb for many
> > years but within this past year or so price has risen to 14.99 lb.
> > Some people are making a lot of money along the line between fisherman
> > and consumer.
> >
>
> A few stores are getting $10 or so, but I've been able to get them for
> $4.99 at Market Basket on a regular basis.

I looked again this morning....$14.99/lb for live lobsters. ;-o

On 12/26/2014 11:58 AM, wrote:

>
> If that was the only way we could get them, we wouldn't support it. I
> hate those middle men, they are not out at the crack of dawn, they
> don't get wet and cold, they don't have equipment and a boat to keep
> and they just rip the honest worker off keeping the price to them as
> low as they can get it and the price to us as high as the market will
> bear.
>

The lobstermen have the choice of not selling them too.

Yes, the middlemen can be sleazy and manipulate prices, but without them
the boat owners would be worse off. They'd get a high price selling at
the dock but they'd sell 50 pounds instead of 500 or 1000 pounds.

I know that one of those middlemen processed over 250,000 pounds of
lobsters in the month of December alone. Over a half million pounds were
shipped out of Maine this month that I'm aware of but it can easily be
double that. Many of these were caught weeks ago and held in tanks
until needed for shipment around the country. The big money is for the
ones shipped to Japan.

FWIW< you'll be pleased to know the middlemen took a bath in 2000. They
geared up expecting huge sales for the Millenium, but it was a bust.
They had stockpiled tons of lobster and got stuck with them for a while.

On 12/26/2014 8:55 AM, Gary wrote:
> wrote:
>> As a diver and catcher of lobsters, I think that is hooey. All the
>> spikes on the shell get hung up on the traps, they can't get in and
>> out easily.
>
> Did you dive with scuba or just snorkel and dive down in the time of
> holding your breath?
>
> I tried the diving with snorkel and flashlight one night with a
> friend.
> Ever dive in the ocean at night? OH MAN. It's extremely scary! I
> came right back up and got the hell out of the ocean. heheh

Night diving is not for me, it is scary. You nave a new array of ocean
creatures that come out at night and swim around, like octopus and eels,
you see crustaceans at play. Coral blooms after dark, and I wanted to
see that.

Becca

On 2014-12-28, > wrote:

> I love it but most people get scared because they lose their sense of
> which way to the surface

Bubbles go up!

Becca EmaNymton wrote:
>Gary wrote:
>> lucretiaborgia wrote:
>>> As a diver and catcher of lobsters, I think that is hooey. All the
>>> spikes on the shell get hung up on the traps, they can't get in and
>>> out easily.
>>
>> Did you dive with scuba or just snorkel and dive down in the time of
>> holding your breath?
>>
>> I tried the diving with snorkel and flashlight one night with a
>> friend.
>> Ever dive in the ocean at night? OH MAN. It's extremely scary! I
>> came right back up and got the hell out of the ocean. heheh
>
>Night diving is not for me, it is scary. You nave a new array of ocean
>creatures that come out at night and swim around, like octopus and eels,
>you see crustaceans at play. Coral blooms after dark, and I wanted to
>see that.
>
>Becca

Same reason I don't go into the woods after dusk or before dawn...
most preditors are nocternal, they will see you before you see them...

On 2014-12-28 5:36 PM, Brooklyn1 wrote:

>> Night diving is not for me, it is scary. You nave a new array of ocean
>> creatures that come out at night and swim around, like octopus and eels,
>> you see crustaceans at play. Coral blooms after dark, and I wanted to
>> see that.
>>
>> Becca
>
> Same reason I don't go into the woods after dusk or before dawn...
> most preditors are nocternal, they will see you before you see them...
>
I used to love to go walking in the woods at night. It wasn't great in
late spring or early summer when the woods are full of mosquitoes and
the trees with full foilage kept the moonlight out, but fall and early
winter evenings were a great time to be back there. These days there
are too many coyotes around and I am not interesting in getting swarmed.
If someone else were to come with me I would gladly start doing it again.

Dave Smith wrote:
>
> I used to love to go walking in the woods at night. It wasn't great in
> late spring or early summer when the woods are full of mosquitoes and
> the trees with full foilage kept the moonlight out, but fall and early
> winter evenings were a great time to be back there. These days there
> are too many coyotes around and I am not interesting in getting swarmed.
> If someone else were to come with me I would gladly start doing it again.

There have been only two documented cases
of people being killed by coyotes. One was
a toddler and the other, I think only a year
or two ago, was a young woman attacked by a
pair of coyotes while hiking. You're probably
perfectly safe on your own, but you're right
that you'd be even safer with a companion.

On 2014-12-29 5:57 PM, Mark Thorson wrote:
> Dave Smith wrote:
>>
>> I used to love to go walking in the woods at night. It wasn't great in
>> late spring or early summer when the woods are full of mosquitoes and
>> the trees with full foilage kept the moonlight out, but fall and early
>> winter evenings were a great time to be back there. These days there
>> are too many coyotes around and I am not interesting in getting swarmed.
>> If someone else were to come with me I would gladly start doing it again.
>
> There have been only two documented cases
> of people being killed by coyotes. One was
> a toddler and the other, I think only a year
> or two ago, was a young woman attacked by a
> pair of coyotes while hiking. You're probably
> perfectly safe on your own, but you're right
> that you'd be even safer with a companion.
>
Hold on a sec.... where are you? There was a woman killed while hiking
in Nova Scotia a few years ago. There have been two incidents locally
where people or their dogs where attacked by coyotes while out for
walks, one of them on the next road to the north. I have seen the tracks
of the coyote, coydog, or hybrid wolf who lives in the woods behind me.
Farmer John has seen him and estimated him to be 100 lb.

My Malinois can take care of himself, but he likes to run off on his
own. Carrying guns in the woods at night is frowned upon here.

Dave Smith wrote:
>
> On 2014-12-29 5:57 PM, Mark Thorson wrote:
> >
> > There have been only two documented cases
> > of people being killed by coyotes. One was
> > a toddler and the other, I think only a year
> > or two ago, was a young woman attacked by a
> > pair of coyotes while hiking. You're probably
> > perfectly safe on your own, but you're right
> > that you'd be even safer with a companion.
> >
> Hold on a sec.... where are you? There was a woman killed while hiking
> in Nova Scotia a few years ago. There have been two incidents locally

That's the one. She was only about 20, hiking
with a group, and got separated from them just
long enough for the attack to occur.

I'm on the western edge of Silicon Valley. I'll
see a coyote every month or two, hear them more
often. The most I've seen at once was a group
of three, but it's rare to see more than one.
I had never seen any until about 10 years ago.

> where people or their dogs where attacked by coyotes while out for
> walks, one of them on the next road to the north. I have seen the tracks
> of the coyote, coydog, or hybrid wolf who lives in the woods behind me.
> Farmer John has seen him and estimated him to be 100 lb.

A wolf is another story. It's like comparing
bobcats with mountain lions.

> My Malinois can take care of himself, but he likes to run off on his
> own. Carrying guns in the woods at night is frowned upon here.

Maybe you need another dog.

"Mark Thorson" > wrote in message
...
> Dave Smith wrote:
>>
>> I used to love to go walking in the woods at night. It wasn't great in
>> late spring or early summer when the woods are full of mosquitoes and
>> the trees with full foilage kept the moonlight out, but fall and early
>> winter evenings were a great time to be back there. These days there
>> are too many coyotes around and I am not interesting in getting swarmed.
>> If someone else were to come with me I would gladly start doing it again.
>
> There have been only two documented cases
> of people being killed by coyotes. One was
> a toddler and the other, I think only a year
> or two ago, was a young woman attacked by a
> pair of coyotes while hiking. You're probably
> perfectly safe on your own, but you're right
> that you'd be even safer with a companion.

We have a big one that has been seen around here. Might not kill but I
still don't want to come across it!

On 2014-12-29 11:36 PM, Mark Thorson wrote:

>>>
>> Hold on a sec.... where are you? There was a woman killed while hiking
>> in Nova Scotia a few years ago. There have been two incidents locally
>
> That's the one. She was only about 20, hiking
> with a group, and got separated from them just
> long enough for the attack to occur.
>
> I'm on the western edge of Silicon Valley. I'll
> see a coyote every month or two, hear them more
> often. The most I've seen at once was a group
> of three, but it's rare to see more than one.
> I had never seen any until about 10 years ago.

I hear them almost every night. Sometimes we hear them several times in
a night and it often sounds as if there are several large packs in the
area. In the 37 years I have lived in this house I have only three
individuals, though I often see their tracks and their scat.



>
>> where people or their dogs where attacked by coyotes while out for
>> walks, one of them on the next road to the north. I have seen the tracks
>> of the coyote, coydog, or hybrid wolf who lives in the woods behind me.
>> Farmer John has seen him and estimated him to be 100 lb.
>
> A wolf is another story. It's like comparing
> bobcats with mountain lions.

I have never seen the one in the woods behind us though I have seen his
den. I did see a wolf or some sort of hybrid about 8 miles from here.
It was near my son's friend's house. It was in a field near a major
road and at first I thought it was good sized deer. Then I realize it
was a wolf.


>
>> My Malinois can take care of himself, but he likes to run off on his
>> own. Carrying guns in the woods at night is frowned upon here.
>
> Maybe you need another dog.

One of these days. He is a rescue. He is pretty much untrainable. He is
okay on a leash now, as long as he doesn't see another dog or a cat.

Becca EmaNymton wrote:
>
> Gary wrote:
> > Ever dive in the ocean at night? OH MAN. It's extremely scary! I
> > came right back up and got the hell out of the ocean. heheh
>
> Night diving is not for me, it is scary.

You turn a flashlight on in a dark room and it lights up the entire
room somewhat. Turn a flashlight on at the bottom of the ocean at
night and all you see is a 12" or so light beam. The ocean water sucks
up all the extra light. You can only imagine what's out there beyond
the light. Also creatures are attracted to your light. arrghhh!

G.

Talking about night diving -

wrote:
> I love it but most people get scared because they lose their sense of
> which way to the surface

That's not what scared me, it was the isolation, very little light,
being surrounded by the black abyss and knowing that my little light
was attracting attention from any nearby ocean creatures. I was all of
the sudden prey in this new environment.

I was surfing 20-25' hurricane waves once. Way to big for my
experience but I went for it anyway as I was a stupid "know it all"
and invincible teenager. Once out there though, it was VERY scary so
I caught a smaller wave. It fizzled out quickly so I halfway between
the shore and the break area.

I chose to paddle back out but here came another set of giant waves. I
paddled over the first two but then came the third wave and it was a
giant one. It curled over and broke right before it got to me. I
"turned turtle"... roll over and cling to the surfboard while it takes
the brunt of the wave. This wave was so big, it yanked the board right
out of hands and for a good minute or so, I felt like I was in a giant
washing machine.

Once the wave let me go, I was almost out of breath and I immediately
swam to the surface. Swim, swim, swim and I hit bottom. I was going
the wrong way. No worries though as I immediately swung around and
pushed off to the surface.

General rule: Keep your head in the ocean. Panic will kill you.

"Gary" > wrote in message ...
> Talking about night diving -
>
> wrote:
>> I love it but most people get scared because they lose their sense of
>> which way to the surface
>
> That's not what scared me, it was the isolation, very little light,
> being surrounded by the black abyss and knowing that my little light
> was attracting attention from any nearby ocean creatures. I was all of
> the sudden prey in this new environment.
>
> I was surfing 20-25' hurricane waves once. Way to big for my
> experience but I went for it anyway as I was a stupid "know it all"
> and invincible teenager. Once out there though, it was VERY scary so
> I caught a smaller wave. It fizzled out quickly so I halfway between
> the shore and the break area.
>
> I chose to paddle back out but here came another set of giant waves. I
> paddled over the first two but then came the third wave and it was a
> giant one. It curled over and broke right before it got to me. I
> "turned turtle"... roll over and cling to the surfboard while it takes
> the brunt of the wave. This wave was so big, it yanked the board right
> out of hands and for a good minute or so, I felt like I was in a giant
> washing machine.
>
> Once the wave let me go, I was almost out of breath and I immediately
> swam to the surface. Swim, swim, swim and I hit bottom. I was going
> the wrong way. No worries though as I immediately swung around and
> pushed off to the surface.
>
> General rule: Keep your head in the ocean. Panic will kill you.

Oh my! Exciting stuff! It sounds as though you were lucky to get home!! Do
share more stories of you misspent youth)



--
http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/shop/

On 12/31/2014 7:04 AM, Gary wrote:
> Becca EmaNymton wrote:
>>
>> Gary wrote:
>>> Ever dive in the ocean at night? OH MAN. It's extremely scary! I
>>> came right back up and got the hell out of the ocean. heheh
>>
>> Night diving is not for me, it is scary.
>
> You turn a flashlight on in a dark room and it lights up the entire
> room somewhat. Turn a flashlight on at the bottom of the ocean at
> night and all you see is a 12" or so light beam. The ocean water sucks
> up all the extra light. You can only imagine what's out there beyond
> the light. Also creatures are attracted to your light. arrghhh!
>
> G.

True, but they are awfully bright when a newbie makes a mistake and
shines one in your face.

One guy wanted to be the first one to leave the boat, and he was, but he
did not have his mask on, he was wearing his glasses, which were now 30
meters below us. He freaked out, so we had to find his glasses for him. lol

Becca