Myths Having to Do With Maine Lobsters

Maine lobsters are highly coveted, making it hard to believe they were once so plentiful that indigenous people used lobsters as fertilizer. Colonial Americans fed lobsters to the poor, incarcerated and indentured: Lobsters were "poverty food." Today, lobsters aren't as plentiful, but myths surrounding the coveted shellfish are.

Motherhood

Female lobsters care for newly hatched larvae until adulthood. Not true. Larvae look out for themselves after being released from their mother's tail.

Lobster Love

Some people think when lobsters hold each other's claw, they are a pair. The truth is they are fighting.

Line-Walking Lobsters

Lobsters travel in long lines as they traverse the ocean floor. Lobsters do walk along the ocean floor, but not in long lines.

Poisonous Dead Lobsters

Eating a dead lobster will be fatal because they contain poisonous chemicals. Not true. As long as the lobster's shell is hard, it does not have an odor and the animal was recently alive, it can be consumed.

Kill Before Eating

One of the biggest myths: You should kill a lobster before boiling it so the animal feels no pain. Lobster fans say this isn't so.

References

• New England Provisions Company
• Lobstering History

Resources

• Chrissy D. Lobster Company - Lobster Myths