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OT: Where Our Food Comes From

CTMike
CTMike Posts: 3,642
in EggHead Forum
A friend was born here in PEI, and has a brother-in-law who is a lobsterman. I had the opportunity to go out with Captain Ian and his crew this morning to see what is involved in the process. Turns out licenses are extremely limited, and go for ~ C$3M if you’re looking to buy one. 

I did ask for a pair of gloves and to be put to work, but was politely told to stay out of the way and watch. They have a job to do and didn’t want me slowing them down. 

 

Ian fishes around 272 traps in strings of 8 traps each, from 0400 - 1200 six days/week. When I asked why they start so early he said that in the past, fishermen would fish those hours, and then go home and work the farm for another 8 hours, and it has just become what they do. 

At the end of the day, Ian sent me off with 6 lobsters that were caught today, and absolutely refused to accept any payment despite my protests. 


MMBGE / Large BGE / XL BGE (Craigslist Find) / SF30x80 cabinet trailer - "Ol' Mortimer" / Outdoor kitchen in progress.  

RECOVERING BUBBLEHEAD
Southeastern CT. 
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  • RRP
    RRP Posts: 26,451
    Dumb question here: where or who along the way makes all the money we have to pay for lobster tails? Surely the lobster fishermen/boat owners are NOT the guys getting rich! 
    Re-gasketing the USA one yard at a time 
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  • CTMike
    CTMike Posts: 3,642
    RRP said:
    Dumb question here: where or who along the way makes all the money we have to pay for lobster tails? Surely the lobster fishermen/boat owners are NOT the guys getting rich! 
    Capt. Ian told me that he is currently getting C$7.25/lb. 
    MMBGE / Large BGE / XL BGE (Craigslist Find) / SF30x80 cabinet trailer - "Ol' Mortimer" / Outdoor kitchen in progress.  

    RECOVERING BUBBLEHEAD
    Southeastern CT. 
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  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 36,677
    Thanks for sharing that unique experience.  Labour (nod) intensive right there. 
    You've got to catch a whole lot of lobsters to clear that fee, never mind the upkeep, fuel, slip fee, insurance and crew pay and more I am sure I'm missing.  Over 400,000 lbs to just clear the fee.  The average weight of a lobster is 1.5-2 lbs.
    Louisville; Rolling smoke in the neighbourhood.  Life is too short for light/lite beer!  Seems I'm livin in a transitional period. CHEETO (aka Agent Orange) makes Nixon look like a saint.  
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  • SGH
    SGH Posts: 28,988
    RRP said:
    Dumb question here: where or who along the way makes all the money we have to pay for lobster tails? Surely the lobster fishermen/boat owners are NOT the guys getting rich! 
    On the gulf coast it’s the fish houses that make all the money. They pay the shrimpers a dollar and change per pound for their catch. And then sell it for up to ten times what they paid for it. They can do this because they have multimillion dollar refrigeration and storage facilities. No one else does. 
    On a separate note Ron, you should be able to relate to that “multimillion” comment above :wink:

    Location- Just "this side" of Biloxi, Ms.

    Status- Standing by.

    The greatest barrier against all wisdom, the stronghold against knowledge itself, is the single thought, in ones mind, that they already have it all figured out. 

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  • CTMike
    CTMike Posts: 3,642
    edited June 2023
    lousubcap said:
    Thanks for sharing that unique experience.  Labour (nod) intensive right there. 
    You've got to catch a whole lot of lobsters to clear that fee, never mind the upkeep, fuel, slip fee, insurance and crew pay and more I am sure I'm missing.  Over 400,000 lbs to just clear the fee.  The average weight of a lobster is 1.5-2 lbs.
    The season on the southern end of island is 50 - 60 days long depending on the biomass estimates from the fisheries dept. He told me that he spends about $45K on bait, and a similar amount on fuel. 

    His license was handed down from his father, that isn’t an annual fee, sorry for the confusion.  The C$3M is what he could sell his license for if he were to retire.
    MMBGE / Large BGE / XL BGE (Craigslist Find) / SF30x80 cabinet trailer - "Ol' Mortimer" / Outdoor kitchen in progress.  

    RECOVERING BUBBLEHEAD
    Southeastern CT. 
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  • RRP
    RRP Posts: 26,451
    SGH said:
    RRP said:
    Dumb question here: where or who along the way makes all the money we have to pay for lobster tails? Surely the lobster fishermen/boat owners are NOT the guys getting rich! 
    On the gulf coast it’s the fish houses that make all the money. They pay the shrimpers a dollar and change per pound for their catch. And then sell it for up to ten times what they paid for it. They can do this because they have multimillion dollar refrigeration and storage facilities. No one else does. 
    On a separate note Ron, you should be able to relate to that “multimillion” comment above :wink:
    Har har har Scottie! Some years back we used to vacation on Jekyll Island and after spending the day on the beach and often seeing the shrimp boats out in the distance we would meet them at the dock and purchase their freshly caught and cooked shrimp for like $3 a pound. We would pig out many nights on such a simple FRESH delicacy which us landlubbers enjoyed! And when we would leave to return to IL I would buy and ice down several pounds! 

    Then one summer upon returning to Jekyll we discovered the boats could no longer stop there again! The state of GA had passed some ridiculous laws preventing shrimp boat owners from selling directly to the public like that anymore. Thereafter when we would shop in Brunswick the price at Kroger was $8 a pound! 

    Re-gasketing the USA one yard at a time 
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  • Botch
    Botch Posts: 17,335
    RRP said:
    The state of GA had passed some ridiculous laws preventing shrimp boat owners from selling directly to the public like that anymore. Thereafter when we would shop in Brunswick the price at Kroger was $8 a pound! 

    Somebody got a campaign donation.  Story of our country  well, history, in a nutshell.  
    "Hallelujah, Noel, be it Heaven or Hell,
    The Christmas we get, we deserve"
         -RIP Greg Lake

    Ogden, UT, USA

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  • RRP
    RRP Posts: 26,451
    edited June 2023
    Botch said:
    RRP said:
    The state of GA had passed some ridiculous laws preventing shrimp boat owners from selling directly to the public like that anymore. Thereafter when we would shop in Brunswick the price at Kroger was $8 a pound! 

    Somebody got a campaign donation.  Story of our country  well, history, in a nutshell.  
    I FIRMLY believe that! sorry that this country’s government has gotten so corrupt! Honestly I do not believe it always has been ANYTHING like it is now from top to the near bottom. I mean from the White House and CERTAINLY at the ILLINOIS state level which has ALWAYS been horribly corrupt! Pay to Play!
    Re-gasketing the USA one yard at a time 
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  • PoppasGrill
    PoppasGrill Posts: 370
    Used to be able to do that with most of the commercial fishing boats here in Fl, they set aside a bit to sell direct, over what they “needed” for the agreement with whoever they contracted with. We would get good deals on Tuna and grouper, and occasionally Mahi. After a while there were people waiting in line, then the entitled ones would raise hell if they showed up late to the docks and couldn’t get anything.
    next we knew the city council wouldn’t let them sell direct since it could be not be accurately taxed.
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  • CTMike
    CTMike Posts: 3,642
    So I ended up trading two of the lobsters to a neighbor in the campground from Newfoundland. I told him I didn’t need anything in return as my wife doesn’t eat lobster and I didn’t want any to go to waste. 

    He was adamant and gave me a jar of Newfoundland Bottled Moose meat and a jar of homemade split pea soup. 

    Currently in Ottawa visiting the kid and his tribe, so we decided to make poutine. 

    It is surprisingly tasty. 


    MMBGE / Large BGE / XL BGE (Craigslist Find) / SF30x80 cabinet trailer - "Ol' Mortimer" / Outdoor kitchen in progress.  

    RECOVERING BUBBLEHEAD
    Southeastern CT. 
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