The lobstermens' picnic; what really happens to the undersized lobster

Back when I worked at the drydock in Saint John I got tight with a few different folks who worked lobster.

By "worked lobster" I mean they or someone in the immediate family had a lobster boat and a lobster licence. One of these lads invited me to a lobster feed.

Everyplace that harvests lobster has some sort of fishing regulation about how big a lobster has to be before it can be considered marketable. So the theory goes that the lads head out in their boats, draw the lobster pots up, and then stand there with a tape measure making sure everything they put in the bin is up to code. The rest they throw over the side, to catch again when they get a little bigger.

That's the theory. In practice, the lobstermen long ago realized that just because the crustacean isn't marketable doesn't mean it isn't eatable. So they don't throw them over the side at all. They set them aside for a friends-and-family lobster feed.

Oddly enough, these are the sweetest most tender lobster you're ever going to find anywhere. You can go to the finest sea-food restaurants on the Eastern Seaboard and you'll never find lobster like you'll find at a lobster feed.