December 25, 2014 — The US lobster trade with China is growing rapidly, especially for a species called the spiny lobster that is harvested in the Florida Keys.
"China has upended the supply chain for lobster," John Sackton, publisher of SeafoodNews.com in Lexington, Massachusetts, told China Daily in an interview on Monday. "The Chinese prefer the spiny lobster over its better known brethren the North American or Maine lobster. Part of the reason is cultural – the Chinese think of a spiny lobster as similar to a dragon prawn and the dragon is a very powerful symbol in China."
One difference between the spiny lobster and the North American version is the time each species takes to mature.
"The Caribbean spiny lobster (the species caught in Florida) matures in its second year after the larvae settle. The American lobster, also known as the Maine lobster, has a much more variable age at maturity, often over 5 years. The longer time to maturity is mostly related to the water temperature. The cold-water American lobster matures much more slowly. The average lobster in Florida is harvested at about 18 months old and it weighs about 1 pound," Tom Matthews, an associate research scientist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) said in an e-mail.
Read the full story at China Daily