About Maine Lobster
Where Do Our Lobsters Come From?
Harbor Fish Market is the place to get lobster in Maine. Located directly on the water of Casco Bay, our facility is expertly designed for the intake and holding of live Maine lobsters.
The process begins with the lobstermen picking up bait at our back door. Our fish production department saves fish waste (heads & bones) which our lobstermen repurpose as bait for their traps. Shortly after, the lobstermen set their traps in Casco Bay, before giving the lobsters time to search out the enticing scraps of fish.
Once the time is right, the lobstermen head back out to retrieve their catch. Upon return to the wharf the lobstermen sort them into crates by hard shell and soft shell.
How Do We Store Our Lobsters?
Once the lobsters are hoisted through our back door, they’re weighed and sorted one last time. This time, they’re sorted into different crates by weight. Everyone has their preference when it comes to lobster size; pre-sorting helps us find what our customers need quickly. If you’re curious what our suggestions for each weight is, check out our buying guide.
Finally, the lobster crates are stored in our tanks. The tanks we use hold all-natural salt water pumped straight in from Casco Bay. This water is constantly circulated through a filtering system, aerated, and cooled to ideal temperatures. It is in these conditions our lobster will wait until the moment they’re pulled for purchase or shipment.
Male Versus Female Lobsters
Male and female lobsters have a few subtle differences, but it’s important to identify them. Their identification helps uphold the state’s regulations and maintain the sustainable harvest of Maine’s lobster population.
The most noticeable difference is the closest pair of extremities to the body. The males (left) have firm extremities which are actually called “gonophores”, resembling small legs. While the female’s (right) are soft and feathery, called “swimmerets”.
The less notable difference is their body weight distribution. The males will tend to have larger claws, more apt for defense. While the females have a wider tail, making them able to hold larger quantities of eggs.
What is the difference between a hard shell lobster and a soft shell lobster?
A soft shell lobster is a lobster that has, as a normal function of its growth, shed its old shell. This tends to happen sometime in early- to mid-summer. Most soft shell lobsters have typically become hard shell by November or December. During this period, known as soft shell season, hard shell lobsters are still available (though less plentiful).
| Soft Shell (New Shell) | Hard Shell (Old Shell) | |
| Yield Percentage | 15-18% | 19-22% |
| Meat Profile | Sweeter & More Tender | |
|
Life Span (out of water) |
<6 Hours (Summer) 12-18 Hours (Winter) |
>24 Hours |
*Due to the life expectancy of soft shell lobsters: we only ship hard shell lobsters
Lobster Buying Guide
Our Sizes
Here at Harbor Fish, we sort our lobsters into 4 different sizes, but there are others that we can’t keep. If you’d like to read more about the restrictions Maine has in place, check out our sustainability practices.
The sizes we offer include the following:
- Chix: 1-1.25 lbs (avg: 1.15 lbs)
- Quarters: 1.25-1.5 lbs (avg: 1.35 lbs)
- Halves: 1.5-2 lbs (avg: 1.65 lbs)
- Jumbos: 2+ lbs
In our market, each lobster is priced by the pound: weighed and priced individually. Our online store needs to do things differently since our customers pay days or weeks in advance. For this reason, we average the weight of these ranges and price them accordingly (listed above).
*Jumbos are not sold online, similar to soft shell lobsters, their life span doesn’t allow for successful shipping.
How Many Lobsters Do I Need?
If you’re serving sides, we recommend 2 Chicks, or 1 Quarter or 1 Half per person as a meal. The very hungry (or enthusiastic) can easily handle 2 Quarters, or maybe even 2 Halves as their meal.
We highly recommend sticking to one size for your entire order. This will simplify your dinner prep, and prevent confusion (and anger?!) at the dinner table.
Lobster Traveling Guide
The Basics
Three cardinal rules before you travel with live lobsters…
Keep your lobsters cold
- We recommend gel packs and a cooler
- If you use ice: don’t let the lobsters sit in freshwater, they will die faster
Keep your lobsters calm
- Pack them with seaweed (or newspaper) wet with salt water
- Keep them in a dark place, a cooler or a closed bag in the fridge
- Don’t handle them too much, this will stress them out
If your lobsters arrive dead, they could still be OK to cook
- If they were kept cold the whole time, they should still be OK within 6-10 hours of death
- Check for an ammonia smell before cooking
- Twist the tail to break the membrane, and smell between the tail and body
- If you smell anything other than sea water, do not cook or consume them
- This also applies to any claws not attached to the lobster
Your Timeline Matters
When traveling with live lobsters, your timeline will determine which type you can bring. Live lobsters have a relatively short life expectancy once removed from our tanks. After dying, lobsters release ammonia into their meat, and will make you sick. The following recommended actions are based on when you will cook your lobsters after picking them up in store.
Less Than 12 Hours to Dinner
You have your choice of soft or hard shell!
12 – 24 Hours to Dinner
Hard shells are a great option.
Soft shells are season dependent:
- Winter: Soft shells are hardier this time of year, they should make it alive.
- Summer: We do not recommend soft shell lobsters. They have recently molted and the hot weather shortens their lifespan.
24 – 36 Hours to Dinner
We strongly recommend hard shell lobsters less than 2 lbs.
The lifespan of soft shell and jumbo lobsters does not bode well for this type of travel time.
Over 36 Hours to Dinner
We do not recommend traveling with live lobsters more than 36 hours, but there are a few alternatives:
- Lobstermeat: shelf life is usually 3-5 days
- Cooked & Cooled Lobsters (24 hours notice for in store pickup)
- Fully Cooked: The shelf life is 3-4 days, longer if you pick the meat and store it air tight.
- Half Cooked: We cook them for about 5 minutes and cool them in an ice bath to stop the cooking process. You’ll want to finish cooking them within 48 hours.
- Shipping: although more costly, we will overnight them to your front door.
*Half cooking at home can also buy you 48 hours of shelf life. (If you have the time to cook, but not eat them)
Harbor Fish Market
(207) 775-0251 • 9 Custom House Wharf • Portland, Maine 04101
(207) 503-5900• 246 US Route 1 • Scarborough, Maine 04074
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