Lobster fishery

Lobsters are widely fished around the world for their meat. They are often hard to catch in large numbers, but their large size can make them a profitable catch. Although the majority of the targeted species are tropical, the majority of the global catch is in temperate waters.

Several methods are used to catch lobsters, with the method depending largely on the species being targeted.

The large Homarus lobsters are caught almost exclusively with lobster pots (also called "lobster traps"). These are large rigid objects which the lobster enters voluntarily, often to reach bait, and which it then cannot escape. Traps are also used in some spiny lobster fisheries, such as the fishery for the California spiny lobster, Panulirus interruptus, in the eastern Pacific Ocean.

Trawling is the main method used for the Norway lobster or Dublin Bay prawn, Nephrops norvegicus, and for those slipper lobsters that prefer soft substrates, such as Thenus and Ibacus. It has also become more frequently used in the fishery for Homarus americanus.

Gill nets and trammel nets are used for the Caribbean spiny lobster, Panulirus argus.

Slipper lobsters that prefer crevices, caves and reefs (including Scyllarides, Arctides and Parribacus species) are usually caught by SCUBA divers.

Legal restrictions apply to the catching of lobsters in many parts of the world, in order to prevent overfishing and allow recruitment to the next generation. Common restrictions include the provision of a minimum landing size, preventing fishermen from catching "berried" females (females carrying eggs), closed seasons and limiting catches with individual fishing quotas.

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