Live Maine Lobsters are good for You, Too!
It’s hard for us to imagine why Maine’s earliest residents didn’t eat the lobsters they harvested. Although they’ve been harvested from the Maine coastal waters for generations, it wasn’t until recently that people started respecting them as the fine fare they are. In fact, early Colonists used them as fertilizer. They were only food for the poor, slaves, indentured servants, and children. Since that time, though, our eating tastes have changed. In the 1840s the demand for live Maine lobsters was so great that the first commercial lobster fishery came into being, supplying the finest restaurants in America’s biggest cities.
Most people eat lobster because it tastes so good. It’s nice to know, though, that something tasting so good is also good for you. To start with, live Maine lobsters are lower in calories and contain less fat than skinless chicken breasts and have about the same amount of cholesterol.
Per one lobster canning company’s nutrition fact sheet, a three ounce serving of lobster contains 98 calories, only 5 of which come from fat. This same 3 ounces contains 300 mg. of the essential mineral, potassium. It also contains the following percentages of the daily requirements of these vitamins and minerals:
1. Vitamin A – 2% 2. Calcium – 6% 3. Riboflavin – 4% 4. Iron – 2% 5. Vitamin E – 6% 6. Niacin – 4% 7. Vitamin B6 – 4% 8. Vitamin B12 – 45% 9. Magnesium – 8% 10. Selenium – 50% 11. Manganese – 2% 12. Phosphorus – 15% 13. Zinc – 15% 14. Copper – 80%
Just imagine getting all that nutrition out of one tiny three ounce piece of lobster. You might try comparing these figures with those on any other canned good in your cupboard. That will show you just how impressive these numbers are.
Most of the live Maine lobsters are harvested by a crew consisting of a boat captain and one or two assistants. These small crews are able to maintain an astounding 800 traps at a time. Their daily routine involves hauling in some full traps and replacing them with empty ones. They keep track of their traps by using buoys marked with their own designs that have been registered with the state of Maine.
Lobsters are harvested in Maine twelve months a year. The majority are caught between late June and late December when the lobsters are most active. Although lobsters are harvested during the other months of the year, too, the catch is much lower.
Although all live Maine lobsters are of superior quality, new shell lobsters are the finest of the lot. When the adult lobsters molt once a year, they rid themselves of their old outgrown shells which are replaced with softer, larger ones that harden over time. It’s at the point when the shells are softest that connoisseurs are most anxious to pay the highest prices for them. New shell lobsters have delicate, succulent meat unparalleled by the meat at any other time of year, and the soft shells can be cracked easily with the bare hands.
You don’t have to make a trip to Maine any more just to satisfy your lobster cravings. Online sites offer excellent prices on live Maine lobsters which they ship overnight from their facility to your home. Lobsters taste good, they’re healthy to eat, and you can get them delivered to your door! So what are you waiting for?
