Lobster Tail is an extremely popular delicacy. Nowadays, it doesn’t look at all out of place on the menu of a fancy restaurant, but it wasn’t always that way.
Back in colonial New England, the first settlers found lobsters washing up on the shore, and it was so plentiful that they only really used them as fertilizer and feed for the pigs and goats, in fact the only people to eat lobsters were paupers.
The male lobster has a very straight tail, the female tail is wider and has a slight curve… but this makes no difference to the fabulous flavour!
Lobster Tail is an extremely popular delicacy. Nowadays, it doesn’t look at all out of place on the menu of a fancy restaurant, but it wasn’t always that way.
Back in colonial New England, the first settlers found lobsters washing up on the shore, and it was so plentiful that they only really used them as fertilizer and feed for the pigs and goats, in fact the only people to eat lobsters were paupers.
The male lobster has a very straight tail, the female tail is wider and has a slight curve… but this makes no difference to the fabulous flavour!
SELECTIVE FISHING
Creel fishing is a species-selective and environmentally sustainable method of fishing. Shellfish are brought to the surface alive and undamaged, with any undersized or unwanted animals being returned.
THE ART OF CREEL FISHING
Lured in by bait (typically a plentiful white fish such as mackerel or herring) the lobsters and crabs enter the creel through the trap entrance and are unable to get back out due to the cone design. The bait bag string keeps the bait bag closed tightly. The lobsters and crabs will then move through to the ‘parlour’ end where they are held until the fisher retrieves them through the door of the creel. On the bottom of the creel there are wooden runners which ensure smooth movement across the table on the aft of the boat. The base weight is usually a heavy stone or cement block and ensures that the creel “lands” on the seabed the right way up and helps keep it in place.
Lobster creels can be put (or ‘shot’) into the water individually, but fishers will usually do this in what is called a fleet. A fleet is a number of creels attached to one long rope and laid on the seabed with a buoy on either end to mark the location. The flags and markings on the buoys are color coded as a way of identifying which fisher and which boat they belong to.
Creels used to be made from wood, willow, lead weights and really anything they could use to fashion a creel out of, They would come in all different shapes and sizes too! The principles would remain the same – there would be a one way opening for the lobsters and crabs to crawl through, an area for bait and a means to attach rope and a buoy to get them back out of the water.
Nowadays they’re far more robust and sustainable, being made from wire mesh, steel frames and cement weights. This means they can withstand harsher environments and last much longer than traditional creels. There have been many upgrades over the years, but the fishers in Johnshaven will still make and repair their own creels at the harbourside.
FURTHER READING
Scottish Creel Fishermen’s Federation Facts Scottish Creel Fishermen’s Federation || Creeling (scottishcreelfishermensfederation.co.uk)
