Title: When is lobster season? - Restaurants - New England - Chowhound
Headings: When is lobster season?
When is lobster season?
Content: These shells will harden over the course of time and as the water gets colder. Since the lobsters shed their shells in order to have room for growth the following year, there is less meat inside a soft-shell lobster than there is in a hard-shell lobster of the same size, There is almost 50% more meat in a hard shell vs soft shell of the same size (this also accounts for their lower prices). Even though there is less meat in soft-shells than in hard-shells, many people prefer the taste of the soft-shells. They are considered sweeter and more tender than the hard-shells. Legally, lobster fishermen in Maine may fish year round. However, most fishermen either do not fish in the winter, or they fish for other products such as shrimp and sea clams. Lobsters are least expensive in the summer when there are many people fishing and soft-shell lobsters are available. The largest lobsters today weigh about 35 to 40 pounds. These are rare and not usually seen on a regular basis. It takes lobsters an average of 5 to 7 years (depending on the water temperature) to grow to legal size (at this size they weigh about 1- 1 1/4lb.),