Can I Keep It?

“Mom, can I keep it?”  I’ve heard that a billion times, and usually I say no.  But when you are out on a lobster boat, and they pull in a whopper like this one that sternman Chris is holding, you assume it’s a keeper, right? Wrong. Maybe in another state, but in Maine, this is an over sized lobster and must be tossed back.  Why? Because these “Grandes” of the deep only like to breed with other “Grandes” and they produce lots and lots of little lobster babies.  Tossing the really big ones back along with the little tiny ones is one of the ways that the lobstermen of Maine protect their breeding stock and their future livelihood.