Live Lobster Handling, Holding, Inventory Management and Water Quality

1. Live Lobster Handling, Holding, Inventory Management and Water Quality • Overview. • Lobster Handling: - On the boat; - At the wharf; - In transit; - At the plant. • Packaging & Transport. • Long Term-Holding - Keys to Success: - Product Quality; - Water Quality. - Cold Water & Segregated Storage; - Inventory Management • Cleanliness

2. Overview • Poor handling accounts for approximately 50% of in-house mortality. • Through simple changes to handle practices from boat to plant, in-house mortality can be easily reduced by half.

3. Lobster Handling - On the Boat • Proper handling must begin with the fishermen, aboard the vessel. • Common mishandling practices include:

4. Lobster Handling - On the Boat Over-packing crates • Leads to injuries such as punctured carapace, punctured belly, broken noses etc. • Excessive weight of crates leads to further rough handling. • If floated at the plant, densely packed crates do not allow proper circulation of water, hence oxygen. • Crates should not be packed more then 100 lbs, ideally 90 lbs per crate.

5. Lobster Handling - On the Boat Rough Handling • Lobster should be handled from the trap to the crate as gently as possible. • Lobster should never be thrown or dropped - the spines of one lobster can easily puncture the shell or soft under belly of another lobster. • Throwing or mishandling even weak or damaged lobster sets a bad example for others. • Crates should never be towed through the water - damages gills.

6. Lobster Handling - On the Boat Dehydration - Drying Out • When held aboard the boat lobster should be kept cool and moist at all times. • Lobster should not be exposed to extreme warm or cold conditions - wind is deadly. • During, extreme cold, warm or wind conditions, crates should be kept covered by a tarp or held in the wheel house of the boat.

7. Lobster Handling - On the Boat Drowning or Suffocation • Lobster should never be held in stagnant water - oxygen depletion and suffocation can occur quickly. • If totes are used, be sure there are holes to allow excess water to drain.

8. Lobster Handling - At the Wharf • Before arriving at your plant, lobster are often held for short periods at the wharf. • As a purchaser of lobster, you should be aware of the conditions at these wharf locations. • Exposure to freshwater, elevated temperatures, low oxygen levels or diesel fuel are not uncommon. • The effects of these exposures may not become apparent until after several weeks in your system.

9. Lobster Handling - In Transit • When out of water, lobster are able to breathe to a certain extent. • This ability to breathe is greatly facilitated if the air is COOL and MOIST - keeps the gills moist. • Dry, warm air, extreme cold or wind can do irreparable damage to a lobster’s gills. • During transport, to reduce stress and facilitate lobster respiration it is critical that the truck box be kept COOL and MOIST.

10. Lobster Handling - In Transit • To meet the necessary requirements, a truck should: • Be well insulated and equipped with refrigeration to maintain 4C. • The truck box should be pre-cooled before picking up the lobster. • Always use ice, even in winter - during transit, ice will melt and will help maintain moisture in the air.

11. Lobster Handling- At the Plant General Handling • During all points of the process, handle product gently. • Product should never be shaken, thrown, dropped etc. • When handling crates, use TWO people to avoid rough handling. • Product should be floated for 24 hours prior to grading - this allows product to recover from the stress of transport before undergoing further grading stress. • Never float product less then 24 hours.

12. Lobster Handling- At the Plant Grading • Careful grading of product to remove dead, weak and damaged product - last line of defense. • Damaged lobster - lost claws, lost legs, cracked carapace, puncture wounds, broken nose etc - are they fresh wounds? • Weak lobster - easily identified by their dropping claws and tail. • Remember - “IF IN DOUBT, PICK IT OUT” - Better to send a strong lobster to the processor then to send a weak lobster to long term holding. • Receiving and Grading area - should always be COOL and MOIST.

13. Lobster Handling- At the Plant Assessment of Shipment Quality • Arrival Condition - Percentage weak, damaged and dead can tell you something about how the shipment was handled before arriving to you. • General Rule - 1.5% dead, 5% weak, 2% damaged • Blood Protein level - When held for long term, lobster are not fed. They must live off their blood protein - they must have enough to survive. • Disease - Product caught in summer months more prone - should screen for gaffkemia, ciliate disease and Vibrio - diseased product entering your holding system could infect the rest of your product. • Molt Staging - As a lobster grows, it must molt. If a lobster molts in your system, it will not survive - Molt staging should be conducted through late spring and summer months.

14. Lobster Handling- At the Plant Assessment of Shipment Quality • Blood protein is used as the primary tool to determine shelf life (ie how long you can hold a shipment in your system). • However, any of the factors mentioned in the previous slide will take precedence if they occur. • So, even if blood protein tells us 4 months shelf life, poor arrival condition, presence of disease or commitment to molt should mean re-assessment of shelf life. • Poor arrival condition - process immediately - investigate source. • Presence of disease - process immediately. • Committed to Molt - One month grace.

15. Lobster Handling- At the Plant Assessment of Shipment Quality • Held lobster - lobster held for long periods (greater then two weeks) should not be considered for long term storage, regardless of blood protein levels.

16. Packaging & Transport • Product must be seasoned at least 3 days prior to shipping to overseas markets. • When shipping crate run, do not pack-over, place back to system and then remove from system for transport if time in water is less then 24 hours. • Handling procedures during pack-up should be the same as during grading - handle gently, do not throw, drop lobster, pick out weak, dead or damaged product • Pack-up should always be done in a COOL and MOIST area. • Never pack out of warm water. • Never use warm boxes or crates. • Allow product to drain at least 30 min. before packing. • Always use dry newsprint on bottom, wet newsprint on top and 2 ice packs (2 lbs) in winter and 3 ice packs in summer.

17. Long Term Holding- Keys to Success • Four major keys to successful long term holding: • Good quality product; • Good water quality - Oxygen, ammonia, cold water, PH, CO2; • Segregated storage; • Good inventory management.

18. Long Term Holding- Keys to Success Product Quality • The system is NOT a hospital - “garbage in, garbage out” • Use blood protein, arrival condition, disease analysis, molt staging etc to assess lobster quality. • Good grading protocol - remove any dead, weak and damaged lobster - “if in doubt, pick it out” - never second guess yourself or your staff. • Follow above steps and you will insure only top quality product enters your holding system.

19. Long Term Holding- Keys to Success Water Quality O2 > 75% Sat CO2 < 20 mg/L NH4-N PH > 7.5 < 3 mg/L

20. Long Term Holding- Keys to Success Segregated Storage • Lobster are naturally territorial and aggressive. • Communal holding in crates is very stressful - also leads to excessive damage such as lost appendages, cracked shells etc. • Holding in individual compartments simulates their natural environment and prevents aggressive interaction - less stress, no damage.

21. Long Term Holding- Keys to Success Good Inventory Management • Must be able to identify stacks by Supplier Name, date received and quality results - this will allow you to learn about the quality of specific suppliers. • Be sure to store similarly ranked stacks together (ie. Rank 1, 2, 3, 4 etc) should be stored separately.

22. Cleanliness • Keeping a clean system is very important - reduces chances of disease, helps maintain water quality. • Every year, the system should be drained, any accumulated sludge removed, hosed down with freshwater and disinfected with chlorine.