Lobster Holding Myths

Myth # 1 - Lobster Cannot Be Held Long Term in Floating Crates or Logteks

In most fishing areas, fishermen place the lobster into floating crates (Logteks).  The lobster typically remain in these crates as they are landed and sold to a buyer and placed in a tank to purge.   After purging, there are a number of containers used within lobster tanks to hold the lobster.  Fish pans (aka totes) or trays in a shower system, submersible trays in a tank, tubed cages, or, sometimes they remain in floating crates.  

A common question I am asked is "which container is the best to use for holding lobster long-term?"

All things considered (lobster health, labor, capital costs, operating costs), the floating crate comes out ahead.   Imagine the savings if the lobster are bought in floating crates and then stored in these same crates!  

CAPITAL COST SAVINGS

Tote pans, tubed cages, trays, and other newfangled containers are NOT cheap.  They now cost anywhere from $0.60 to $1.50 per lb of storage to purchase them.  Then there's the cost to modify them (in some cases), ship them to your site, and then unload and store them somewhere.  

Unfortunately, that cost is just the tip of the iceberg.  Floating crates allow for the highest lobster to water ratio in storage.  This means that if using trays, for example, your tank has to be 50% larger to store the same volume of lobster.  Larger tanks mean larger buildings required.  If there is more water in the system, more pumping, aeration, and chilling will be required.  If using shower systems, the system now must include a reservoir tank and a lot more pumping to get the water to the top of the showers.  This creates more exposure to the air, adding more heat to the water, requiring larger chillers again.

The writing is on the wall for use of wood in the tanks as well forcing operators to buy new plastic pallets in order to hold these trays/tubes etc.

OPERATIONAL COST SAVINGS

How much does it cost to put lobster in a segregated tube or tray compartment as compared to putting it in an open crate or tote pan?  And, how much does it cost to take it back out when shipping the lobster out of the facility?  

Extra steps required to use something other than floating crates:

1. Buy and/or build trays or tubes specific to your system

2. Buy and/or build pallets specific to the type of container you're using (and also possibly build specific floating mechanism and specific forklift implement for putting a pallet full of product in and out of the tank).

3. Store hundreds or thousands of trays and tubes (if outside, go fetch them from your neighbors after every wind storm)

4. Store pallets

5. Move the tray from storage to the handling area

6. Move pallets from storage to the handling area

7. Put tray dividers in proper spacing to handle specific grade of lobster (or with tubed cages, have several cages built for different sizes standing around in your way)

8. Move lobster from crate to tray

9. Move crate from handling area to storage area

10. Get forklift with specialized implement to lower product into the tank

11. Then do all these steps again in reverse to get the lobster back into crates and out the door on a truck 

In a time when finding enough bodies is the industry's #1 problem, why take on such unnecessary expenses?  How much does this myth really cost?

Another significant factor here is the requirement for larger tanks, buildings, pumps, and chillers as mentioned above.  All of these contribute to higher financing costs, higher energy costs and higher maintenance costs.  The banks, the power company, and the tradesmen thank you.

THE BIG MYTH

Many will say, "it is impossible to hold lobster long-term if they're not separated.  They'll eat each other's antennae." Or, "they'll eat each other."  We, then, have many customers doing the impossible!  Let me ask you this - why do catches go down in the winter months in LFA 33,34?  Is it not due to the shallow water there hovering around 35F and below?  At this temperature, the lobster enter torpor and do not eat.  Therefore, fishing with bait at these temperatures is not feasible.  Therefore, keeping a crate full of lobster in these temperatures IS feasible without damage to each other.  If the water quality system is designed and built correctly, you will have confidence that it can hold 35F or colder every day of the year.  This gives our customers confidence to hold many months in floating crates (some up to 6 months every year)!

A few critical clarifications now:

1. Shower systems do make sense in some instances (a subject for another time)

2. Temperature control is the small hinge that this big door of savings swings on.  If you can't keep the temperature low enough to hold the lobster in torpor every minute of every day, don't try holding lobster for 6 months in crates.  Actually, you probably shouldn't try holding for 6 months at all in that case.