SLIDE SHOW: Maine Lobster

• Photo/Art by Sadie Dayton

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  Freshly caught Maine lobster

  

• Photo/Art by Sadie Dayton

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  Maine chefs and lobsterman Tom Martin aboard the Lucky Catch in Casco Bay

  

• Photo/Art by Sadie Dayton

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  Portland Head Light seen from the water

  

• Photo/Art by Sadie Dayton

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  Lobster buoy in the distance in Casco Bay

  

• Photo/Art by Sadie Dayton

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  Captain Tom Martin has been lobstering for more than 25 years

  

• Photo/Art by Sadie Dayton

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  Uniquely designed buoys are used to identify a specific lobsterman's traps

  

• Photo/Art by Sadie Dayton

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  First haul of the day

  

• Photo/Art by Sadie Dayton

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  Hauling a trap on board the Lucky Catch

  

• Photo/Art by Sadie Dayton

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  Several freshly caught lobsters

  

• Photo/Art by Sadie Dayton

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  One of the day's catch ready to be sized to determine if it's is a keeper. It takes, on average, seven years for a lobster to reach its legal catch size (1-1 1/4 pounds)

  

• Photo/Art by Sadie Dayton

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  Lobstermen use a gauge to determine the size of each creature. Legal sizes range from a minimum of 3-1/4 inches to maximum of five inches. The lobster is measured from the eye socket to the back, where the tail joins the body

  

• Photo/Art by Sadie Dayton

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  Gender identification is another important aspect of lobstering. Those lobsters carrying eggs must be marked with a notched V in the right flipper and returned to the water

  

• Photo/Art by Sadie Dayton

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  To determine the sex of a lobster lobstermen look for what are called swimmerets (abdominal appendages) on the underside of the lobster. Female lobsters are soft and feathery and male lobsters are hard and bony. Reproductive females are returned to the ocean to ensure lobster stocks remain strong

  

• Photo/Art by Sadie Dayton

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  To ensure that live lobsters don't injure one another in the storage tanks, lobstermen band the claws together

  

• Photo/Art by Sadie Dayton

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  Lobstermen utilize a recirculating tank to hold their catch until they reach market

  

• Photo/Art by Sadie Dayton

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  Heading out of Portland Harbor on the Lucky Catch toward Casco Bay and the day's first haul

  

Experience real Maine lobstering aboard the boat, Lucky Catch, in Casco Bay. Click on the main picture to advance the slideshow.

Get more lobster recipes

Read the story: After the Catch
View more slideshows of Maine from Yankee Magazine:

Maine Odyssey

The Last Sardine Cannery

See more of Sadie’s work at:
sadiephotography.com

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