Divers have discovered a new crustacean in the South Pacific that resembles a lobster and is covered with what looks like silky, blond fur, French researchers said Tuesday.The animal is white and 15 centimeters (5.9 inches) long -- about the size of a salad plate.
Perfect.It fits the plate. mmmm lobster mmmm.....as Homer Simpson would say.
Just kidding. Besides the Lobster Liberation Front might be a tad teed off. Free the Lobsters!
It makes a better picture than a meal. And since this newly discovered species lives deep in the ocean off Tahiti it is unlikely to be fished.
They could have named this blond lobster after Linda McCartney, since she and her husband Sir Paul opposed Lobster fishing before he even found out about seals. Or since it is a French blonde perhaps they should have named it after Bridgette Bardot another anti-sealing, anti-immigrant activist. or Pamela Anderson, no she is Canadian, but she is blonde.
International stars Pamela Anderson Lee, Brigitte Bardot and Mary Tyler Moore have all reported thrown their weight behind lobster liberation. Sir Paul McCartney and his late wife, Linda, are also supposed to have spent thousands of pounds saving captive lobsters from the plate. BBC News | UK | The cost of posh nosh
Even folks who eat Lobsters are aware that there are limits such as in this case; Sympathetic Customers Save Giant Lobsters From the Pot Unfortunately not all such rescues succeed.
Earlier this month, 23-pound Bubba attracted national attention when shoppers spotted him in a tank at a Pittsburgh seafood market and urged the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium to intervene. Bubba ended up in a quarantined tank at the zoo on March 1. But he died less than 24 hours later, presumably from the stress of being moved many times.
On the other hand while we like our lobster we recognize that it is a matter of sustainable eco-nomics (ecological economics), the balance between fishers and the lobsters, as in the case of any costal peoples who rely upon the economy of the sea for their existence under capitalism. What was once a sustainable local economy under capitalism becomes overfishing, a threat to the continuation not only of sea animals but those who fish them. Even scientific studies of marine animal populations have to be suspect when the studies are done without input from the fishers themselves.
The Secret Lives of Lobsters
Cowan sees the conservancy’s mission as “protecting and conserving
lobster populations, and the industry that supports lobsters.” She is also
committed to breaking down the barriers between the scientists who
study marine life and the fishermen who make their livings from lobsters.
After all, it was local people who led her to one of her greatest discoveries
about lobsters. While looking for a spot to launch her kayak, she saw
two boys flipping rocks on the beach. When she asked what they were up
to they replied, “We’re playing with baby lobsters.” Cowan was stunned. For
years, scientists had thought juvenile lobsters lived in deep water, not
intertidal mudflats; however, these two sons of local lobstermen had
always known where to find baby lobsters.
Recent years of record high catches are making state officials uneasy.
Many of the lobsters brought to market are too young to have
reproduced, so there is talk of increased regulation to prevent a
population crash. Cowan is supplying the hard scientific data that will
help protect the lobsters and the industry. Lobsters are a $200 million
a year industry in Maine, providing a livelihood for thousands of people.
As more nurseries were discovered on New England beaches, Cowan put out
a call for volunteers.
Lobstermen and their families were the first to sign up, and have proven
to be her best helpmates. They know where to look for the babies
and how to handle them. Their knowledge of lobster behavior is extensive,
some of it passed down through generations of their families.
Lobstermen also provide specimens for her research station. With
permits from the state, Cowan can accept large lobsters that are beyond
the legal catch limit. It is not uncommon to see a boat motor up
to the dock and a burly Maine lobsterman deposit a monstrous lobster
with claws the size of boxing gloves into Cowan’s outstretched arms.
Big lobsters have big appetites, so the lobstermen stop by at
the end of the day with fish, mussels, and crabs—dinner for the big guys.
And capitalism is rapacious, demanding unsafe fishing practices and increasing the numbers of lobsters fished which counters any ecological balance. Saving the lobsters for fishers is saving their communities, it is an economic and social neccisity.
Saving the Lobsters for Sir Paul McCartney is a moral issue, like saving the seals, which has no impact on his life since he is a vegan.What can be done to save the lobsters?
Local people organize for a greater say over their economic future
By Roger Hamilton, Corn Island, Nicaragu
The fishermen's complaint, said Pineda, was not that there are too many regulations, but rather that there are not enough. They insisted on the need for tough, well-enforced restrictions to protect the lobster. Although he called this year's catch "phenomenal," he said it could just be a natural fluctuation. "The government studies say that the lobsters are not overfished, but we see that overall, the fishery is down."
As a first step, the fishermen want lobster fishing to be banned during the February-March-April spawning period. But such a ban would have to apply to all fishermen, including foreign boats that operate on government-granted concessions. "We can live with the limitations, if they will save the fishery," said Pineda. "But if the law doesn't apply to everyone, why should we obey it?"
Diving for lobsters is another problem. The practice is encouraged by the big packinghouses because of its efficiency. But diving is hard on both the lobster population and the divers themselves.
As with the anti-seal hunt Lobster Liberation Front moralists have little care for the impact they have on the human communities that live in a precarious balance with the sea.Most importantly, Paul and Heather promoted the Boycott of Canadian Seafood products and pointed out that the boycott of snow crabs from Newfoundland alone had cost the Canadian seafood industry 129 million dollars, a fact that Williams could not deny. They specifically mentioned the boycott of Red Lobster twice, which will put considerable pressure on the restaurant chain to stop their purchase of Canadian fish. Last week, Trader Joe’s joined Whole Food Market and thousands of restaurants that have signed onto the Boycott of Canadian Seafood.
They are obviously picking on small fisherman. It's my livelihood. I'm only a one-man band trying to muddle my way through life bringing up my two children. My job happens to be that I'm a fisherman. I don't know what they are trying to do. They say they are trying to save the lobsters but they will do more harm than good.
Saving the Lobsters for fishers is saving their heritage and the real eco-onomy of the community. It is also a matter of needing greater self management since clearly neither State regulations nor scientific studies in the past have been based on community input or community needs.
Researchers ponder old menus to save fisheries. 24/10/2005. ABC ...
Australian stocks of orange roughy are among some of the fish species coming under increasing pressure from over-fishing, according to a new report.
A snapshot of the world's fish stocks points not only to the current state of fisheries but also how changes in tastes over the years have impacted on the supply of seafood.
Marine historians picking through 200,000 US restaurant menus since the 1850s, schooner logs and archaeological sites are finding that capricious human tastes have let some species thrive while other stocks have been over-fished for centuries.
Americans scorned lobster until the 1880s while the ancient Romans loved fish so much that their catches depleted the Mediterranean, according to the study that may give clues about how to restore damaged world fish stocks.
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