Shorediving for Lobster in Maui?

[FoSheZZie23]

Does anybody know of any good spots to go shorediving for lobster in Maui? I am going to be there March 17-27th and Lobster IS IN SEASON!!!!! yahoo for that! But i need to find out where they are walking around! I have seen them at Molokini... hehe but yes yes I know its a marine sanctuary.... I only fish legally! Any advice/ information would be greatly appreciated!

 

[kidspot]

I see them quite frequently in the reef that stretches along Baby Beach in Lahaina, but you have to get to the outside of the reef and that's a rough walk. Night diving lots of folks seem to like Mala Warf, but this late in the season there's not likely to be many left. Remember you can only take males this year, no more females.

btw - you might contact Shaka Doug for one of his "Bug Hunt" tours that he leads ...

Aloha, Tim

 

[Shaka Doug]

Hey Tim and FoShezzie23,

I'm no longer doing the Bug Hunt tours. I decided to give that up a year or two ago. Things have changed around here since I first started that up and it's just not a good thing to do anymore. Plus, with the new regulations, I think we should leave both males and females alone for a year (or two or three maybe).

Good luck but they are getting really hard to find. I won't take any from my regular sites anymore. I know where to find a couple but I'd rather see them over and over than eat one of them.

Do you know it takes something like 8 years for a Hawaiian Spiny Lobster to reach maturity??? That's not good for the sustainability of the species when they have heavy pressure from hunters. Maine lobsters grow much, much faster. I think I heard they reach reproductive maturity in around two years.

 

[kidspot]

Thanks for the info Doug, I did not know that. I see them almost every dive off Lahaina lately and didn't know they were getting fewer.

Aloha,Tim

 

[rgbmatt]

I agree with Shaka Doug. Spiny lobsters have mostly disappeared from Oahu, except in deep water and some inaccessible areas. Catching lobsters on shore dives will likely be a thing of the past on Maui if current pressure keeps up.

IMO lobsters in Hawaii are more endangered than turtles and whales, and deserve more respect than they get. People get bent out of shape when somebody hooks a turtle or hits a whale, but still nobody enforces the lobster regulations. Lame.

 

[Shaka Doug]

I'd say they are getting pretty endangered too. They really need some protection from harvesting pressure. I like eating them but I sure would miss them more if they were all gone.

 

[Damselfish]

Do you know it takes something like 8 years for a Hawaiian Spiny Lobster to reach maturity??? That's not good for the sustainability of the species when they have heavy pressure from hunters. Maine lobsters grow much, much faster. I think I heard they reach reproductive maturity in around two years.

AFAIK, Maine lobsters take just as long to reach maturity.

 

[Shaka Doug]

Thank You Damselfish, I stand corrected. I did a little research and checked with the Lobster Institute. They say that an American Lobster (Maine) takes between 5 to 7 years to reach legal size to harvest (3.25 inch carapace). They also note that lobsters take from 5 to 8 years to reach adulthood. (Visit this site: http://www.lobsterinstitute.org/index.php?page=48)

Isn't there a lobster farm on the Big Island that raises the Maine lobster much faster than that? I thought we used to get them at a (now closed) restaurant named Margarita's here on Maui. They were the Maine lobster but farm raised rather quickly (genetically modified?) in chilled water over there. Anyone know anything about this?

I found this also but it's quite dated:

[REPORT ON THE WORLD AQUACULTURE SOCIETY
19TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE AND EXPOSITION, HONOLULU, HAWAII, U.S.A.
4–10 JANUARY 1988 AND
SOME NOTES ON AQUACULTURE IN HAWAII
by
Herminio R. Rabanal1

The second tour is the big island (Hawaii Island) aquaculture tour which consisted of a visit to the National Energy Research Laboratory of Hawaii (NERLH) in Kona, where the Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) project utilizes cold, deep ocean water, for aquaculture projects. Cultured on site ace abalone, microalgae, seaweed, American lobster and salmon; and also a visit to the Aquatic Culture and Design Farm (Chinese catfish, prawns).]


After even more digging on the web I found this:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3089/is_2_61/ai_65133664/pg_62

[Homarid Lobster Hatcheries: Their History and Role in Research, Management, and Aquaculture

In 1988 AE (Aquaculture Enterprises) relocated to Hawaii where they now raise lobsters by mixing the warm surface waters off Hawaii with the deep colder waters, thereby achieving a 22 [degrees] C temperature in which the lobsters thrive. AE has also developed special husbandry techniques incorporating a plastic grid of their own design (Anonymous, 1990) and their own feeding techniques using local fishing waste (Loupe, 1991). In 1990, AE had some 5,000 animals in residence (Anonymous, 1990). Currently, AE is working on broodstock strains, testing feeding rations, and experimenting with prototype production equipment (Wilson(22)).

Kona Cold Lobster, Ltd. in Hawaii is currently farming a unique blue lobster. By mating the H. americanus with an H. gammarus, the result is a hybrid lobster that is bright blue in color. Their product is being marketed to the aquarium trade and as a garnish for seafood platters in up-scale restaurants (HAAC, 1996).]

I looked hard but can't seem to find official info about the rate of maturity for our Hawaiian Spiny lobster. It sure would be nice to know....

 

[Dayolddoughnuts]

I grabbed a really nice sized lobster at Mala ramp two weeks ago (middle of the day). We took a couple of pics then let it go.