Lobstermen have a language all on their own. Learn the terms and really talk like a Mainah!
Hen lobster Female lobster
Chicken (chix, chic) lobster Smallest lobster usually around 1lb.
Pistol lobster Lobster with no claws
Cull Lobster with one claw
Bug (bugs) Another term for lobster
Jumbo Large lobster
Hards, old shell Referring to the shell (pre molt)
Softs, shedders, new shell Referring to the shell ( post molt)
Berried Female Lobster with eggs
Haul, haulin To retrieve traps
Landed To catch have in possession
She Everything is always a she
Over the rail, bring aboard Place inside the boat from outside
Huck To throw
Wicked Awesome, super
Blowin a gale Really windy
Right out straight Extremely busy
Now lets put these terms into a summary- ( to be read with Maine accent)
“…. weren’t to bad a haul, got a handful of hard bugs, mostly shedders though . Landed a nice Jumbo, too bad she had to be a cull. Other than that most the bugs I brought over the rail were chix, ain’t much to do with those but huck em’ the kids way, still wicked good. If she ain't blowin’ a gale tomorrow I’ll be haulin' off the cape see what we can bring aboard …….
THE BIG QUESTION: “Do lobsters feel anything when I cook them?”
NO NO AND NO a lobster has the brain the size of a grasshopper’s. The lobster brain is primarily a collection of ganglia or nerve endings. It’s evident from the lobster brain’s lack of complexity that a lobster CANNOT have deep thoughts which answers the other big question, “do lobsters scream when you cook them?”. If you don’t want to steam them alive then electrocute them first, or at least the people who shop organic food markets think this is more humane…………..ummmm yeeeaahhh. Also, the sound that people hear when putting a lobster into the pot for the first time, is not the lobster screaming, lobsters have no vocal cords, it is simply air escaping from the shell, similar to a teapot, but on a much smaller scale.