lobster fishing season closes tomorrow, november 30th in this part of norway. the season is only two months here in order to preserve the stock. while the season officially includes the entire month of november, the bulk of the catch is in october. november is often too stormy and cold. this photo was taken in early october when the weather was far more favorable.
the lobsters in these waters are known commonly as langoustines or in more official cicles, nephrops Nephrops norvegicus. they are smaller than the north american lobsters.
there are various restrictions on who can fish for lobster, how to fish and how many traps are allowed. also the minimum size for keepers is 24 cm, and taking or landing spawning females is prohibited. so the stock is relatively strong compared to the EU and the UK. however, many traps are lost due to a combination of the frequent storms, the topography of the sea bottom and the frequent use of buoy ropes which are too short. while the traps cannot be recovered from the surface, they still actively trap both langoustines and crabs on the sea bottom. thus many starve to death in the lost traps. the only way to recover a trap, with or without any catch is to dive down to retrieve it but few lobster fishers are prepared for this.
all this aside, the culture of local small scale lobster fishing is thriving with new generations of eager participants, from both a fishing perspective as well as a culinary one.
Thank you for your participation