Myth about Lobster Traps

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

shoupart

Contributor
Messages
495
Reaction score
1
Location
Los Angeles, CA
# of dives
500 - 999
Here in SoCal, somebody told me a long time ago that if you mess with a lobster trap, it will release dye on your gloves and mark you as a thief, thereby allowing Fish & Game or the police to come arrest you.

I didn't really believe that, especially when I'd encounter a trap during a dive and see no visible dye-release gizmo. (Not that I took any, but I had a look!)

I figured it was false:
1) No dye packets on the traps I saw.
2) Barely ever saw any lobster boats around said traps
3) Nor did I often see Fish & Game checking anything besides fishing license & to make sure the bugs were legal. They certainly weren't checking gloves for signs of dye residue.
4) The whole system seems really inefficient. think about it.

So I stopped believing in that local diving urban legend, but I still hear it from other divers. I'm pretty certain it's completely untrue.

Plus, I can't find ANY information on 'lobster traps marked with dye' on the internet or anywhere else, so far.

Does anybody know anything about alleged dye on cages/traps?
 
I think the rumor that has been circulating for years, it that DFG will place a lobster trap in a very popular site, and "paint" the lobster with a substance that will glow under ultra violet light. As the story is spun, bug hunters exit the water, their catch is black-lighted and then busted. I've never seen a single news source story on this, so it remains to be authenticated.

I have seen the story on the small diamond holes in the fins and that appears to be true and valid.
 
I think the rumor that has been circulating for years, it that DFG will place a lobster trap in a very popular site, and "paint" the lobster with a substance that will glow under ultra violet light.

DFG has marked some lobster. What they do is punch the tail with a triangle or square hole punch then put the lobster in the trap. They caught some commercial poachers that way by meeting them at the dock them checking to see the marked lobster were there. No need for exotic chemicals or battery powered UV lamps.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

Back
Top Bottom