A lobster trap or lobster pot is a portable trap that traps lobsters or crayfish and is used in lobster fishing. In Scotland (chiefly in the north), the word creel was used to refer to a device used to catch lobsters and other crustaceans. A lobster trap can hold several lobsters. Lobster traps can be constructed of wire and wood, metal and netting, or rigid plastic. An opening permits the lobster to enter a tunnel of netting or other one-way device. Pots are sometimes constructed in two parts, called the "chamber" or "kitchen", where there is bait, and exits into the "parlor", which prevents escape. Lobster pots are usually dropped to the sea floor, one or more at a time, sometimes up to 40 or more, and are marked by a buoy so they can be picked up later.

Description

The trap can consist of a

wood Wood is a structural tissue/material found as xylem in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulosic fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin t ...

frame surrounded by mesh. The majority of the newer traps found in the Northeast of the US and the Canadian Maritimes consist of a plastic-coated metal frame. A piece of bait, often

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

or chum, is placed inside the trap, and the traps are dropped onto the sea floor. A long rope is attached to each trap, at the end of which is a plastic or styrofoam buoy that bears the owner's license number. The entrances to the traps are designed to be one-way entrances only. The traps are checked every other day by the fisherman and rebaited if necessary. One study indicated that lobster traps are very inefficient and allow almost all lobsters to escape. Automatic rebaiting improves efficiency.

History

The lobster trap was invented in 1808 by Ebenezer Thorndike of Swampscott, Massachusetts. By 1810, the wooden lath trap is said to have originated in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

fishermen in the United States used it for years before American companies introduced it to the Canadian fishery through their Atlantic coast canneries. An 1899 report by the United States Fish Commission on the Lobster Fishery Of Maine, described the local " lath pots" used by

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

lobster fishers:

Safety

Lobster fishermen who become entangled in the trap line are at risk of drowning if they are pulled overboard. Best practices have been developed to prevent and reduce entanglement and to facilitate getting fishermen who have fallen overboard back onto their vessels.

Rope-less lobster traps

As whales can get entangled in ropes, there is currently research going on into the development of rope-less lobster traps. Some designs have already been developed.

References

External links