Good stuff. Also, the bottom is riddled with lost cages and lines we don't even see . . . none of which they're required to retrieve. Don't dare call them lobster farmers, either, despite the fact that I doubt their fishery would support the catch without the tons of bait they're fed . . . seems like aquaculture to me. They bristle at the oyster farmer who gets a small lease and is required to post a big cash bond with the state to fund removal of their equipment if it fails or sinks . . . but the lobster guys? Hell no! I love my lobster, too, and give them their due . . . but the water is warming and they're going to need to learn to grow oysters and kelp as the lobsters head north.
You are right, Sandy. Climate change will likely solve the problem. But in the meantime I would take oyster farms over the lobster industry any day of the week: No feed required. No lines in the water column. No floats on the surface. Improve water quality. Just a way better way to get protein from the ocean.
When we bought STEADFAST we picked her up at Front Street in Belfast. The pots are an amazing maze. Lots of those Lobstermen are generation after generation, and yet seem to multiply. I wonder how there can possibly be that many lobster down there???!!!
Enjoy your travels, we WERE headed north for August as it is so hot here on the Bay... Read my latest when you have a chance.
I'm preggo and hunkered down, and your missives from the waves are giving me LIFE right now, Tim. Really appreciative of your updates + insights!!
Good stuff. Also, the bottom is riddled with lost cages and lines we don't even see . . . none of which they're required to retrieve. Don't dare call them lobster farmers, either, despite the fact that I doubt their fishery would support the catch without the tons of bait they're fed . . . seems like aquaculture to me. They bristle at the oyster farmer who gets a small lease and is required to post a big cash bond with the state to fund removal of their equipment if it fails or sinks . . . but the lobster guys? Hell no! I love my lobster, too, and give them their due . . . but the water is warming and they're going to need to learn to grow oysters and kelp as the lobsters head north.
You are right, Sandy. Climate change will likely solve the problem. But in the meantime I would take oyster farms over the lobster industry any day of the week: No feed required. No lines in the water column. No floats on the surface. Improve water quality. Just a way better way to get protein from the ocean.
When we bought STEADFAST we picked her up at Front Street in Belfast. The pots are an amazing maze. Lots of those Lobstermen are generation after generation, and yet seem to multiply. I wonder how there can possibly be that many lobster down there???!!!
Enjoy your travels, we WERE headed north for August as it is so hot here on the Bay... Read my latest when you have a chance.
And oyster farms?? Absolutely!
Front Street was very impressive. Sorry you didn't escape north! Am in DC for a few days and it is suffocating.
We lost an excellent lure in the lobster pot minefields 😅 but why did we thinking fishing around pots would work? Ah, youth!