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The last time I was on stx, which was for 3 weeks, I met a very friendly man who trapped lobster in a bay near our home. He used wire traps and leaves as bait. Some days he would get skunked and get nothing, but other days he would cruise over in his boat, wave his arms and hold up his catch. It was very fun to cruise down and see what he caught and make some purchases! I was wondering if anyone has any experience on trapping or catching lobsters on stx. Also I am wondering what the rules are for seasons or sizes of keep. I am very excited to learn how to trap lobster legally and safely, a little free food will definitely help the wallet. Let me know what you guys think and as always I appreciate your advice!
Posted : July 9, 2011 4:21 pm
As far as I know, there is no 'season', so you may catch them all year. I don't use a trap, though, I use a snare (spears are not good, as you don't know if it's a female or not until you catch it). You cannot keep females, and males must be over 4" on the carapace. Those are the laws as I know them...
Found this on Yahoo Answers: Possibly the easiest method of distinguishing males from females is the difference in the fifth walking legs (counting from the front to back). In females, the fifth or last pair of walking legs terminate in a small claw. This claw is used to tend to the eggs under her tail during the spawning season. Males do not have this claw, with their fifth walking leg ending as a single point.
Another method of quickly determining the difference between male and female spiny lobster is the location of the genital pore. In males, the genital pore is located at the base of the fifth walking leg. In the female rock lobster, the genital pore is found at the base of the third pair of walking legs, where the eggs are released.
A third method for determining the sex of the spiny lobster is by looking at the pleopods (swimmers) located under the tail. Female rock lobster have inner and outer pleopods which are used to carry eggs, whilst the male rock lobster has four pairs of single pleopods.
More good info here: Spiny Lobsters
Posted : July 9, 2011 4:32 pm
Didn't Kramer get in trouble for "finding" lobsters in the Hamptons? 😀
Posted : July 9, 2011 4:35 pm
On St Croix a lot of local fishermen farm an area for lobsters which they sell, if you end up catching in the local farmers area you might wish that you had ordered your lobster at Kendricks.:D
Posted : July 9, 2011 6:09 pm
How do they farm it? Do they feed them? Is it marked off in any way?
Posted : July 9, 2011 9:24 pm
onthespot,
You must come from a land locked state, Each Fishermen knows where his traps are located and the other fisherman know. They respect each others farm that would the area of ocean considered each others turf.. No they don't feed the lobsters.*-)
Posted : July 9, 2011 10:03 pm
I could understand not pulling pots that are not yours, but say if a tourist was snorkeling and snared a few from a given bay where someone else had put pots, would they get a "schooling" from the owner of the pots?
Posted : July 9, 2011 10:54 pm
That would be up to the fishermen!*-) Try it and let us know how you made out.:S
Posted : July 9, 2011 11:22 pm
I have snared under the pier. There are lobster pots just near the pier but in no way does that distinguish that all around the pier is their territiory.
I have also watched from the Divi at 3 locals in a dinghy on the reef. STANDING on the reef and destroying and killing it. They had a snare and his friend was in the water bringing up the catch. One of the other men was free diving and would come up with his catch. They had a large bag in their dinghy that was full when they came in to the beach.
Posted : July 10, 2011 11:17 am
