So a Canadian lobster walks into an English bar– er, bay, and he kind of scuttles. Anyway, despite whatever punchline you might’ve been expecting, Canadian lobsters really are showing up in English waters, and not because they were in the mood for a 3,000-mile swim. No, the recent influx of foreign crustaceans is likely the fault of guilty diners crossing the Atlantic on cruise ships.
The Homarus Americanus species of lobster has been showing up in the pots of fishermen in Yorkshire, reports the Daily Mail, which is especially bad for the lobsters as they can’t breed with local species and likely won’t survive long in UK waters.
As for how they’re getting there, one theory experts are entertaining is that do-gooder cruise ship passengers are ordering live lobsters and then telling waiters to throw them overboard in a misguided attempt to save the creatures.
Some of the lobsters are showing up with their claws still bound with rubber bands, but that’s only one problem — they could be bringing disease with them, and even if they do mate with local species, their offspring will be infertile, a rep from a fishing industry group explains.
“We think the most likely route is that they are getting thrown overboard from cruise ships,” he said. “People buy lobster for dinner, feel sorry for it and ask the waiter to chuck it over. In the grand scheme of things that’s a very small level of re-introduction.”
If you’ve got the itch to become a lobster savior, it’s best you don’t bother, he adds.
“They won’t last much longer than if the passengers had eaten them for dinner.”
by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist
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