CRUSTACEAN

Southern Rock Lobster

The World Is Your Lobster…

INTRODUCING THE SOUTHERN ROCK LOBSTER.
ONE OF THE WORLD’S GREATEST DELICACIES.

The Victorian Southern Rock Lobster is one of the most sought-after species of seafood in the world due to its exquisite taste, heavy, meaty nature, and superb texture. While the scientists call them Jasus edwardsii, fishers refer to them as lobsters or crayfish.

They are a wild-caught species and fished from the 16th of November to the 15th of September (closing 1st June for females), with the fishery closed for 2 months during moulting season. Females produce eggs - called berries - from the start of winter. These are essential for the next generation of lobsters, and fishers are always careful to return them to the water.

Lobster fishers are early risers and head out to sea before dawn. They arrive at the spot where the day before, they dropped their cray pots.  These are round cage-like traps made of a steel frame woven with stick or nylon netting. At the top is a narrow neck. Southern Rock Lobsters are carnivorous creatures, so fishers bait the pots with other seafood, often fish frames leftover from filleting. The pots are taken out to sea where fishers know the seafloor is suitable habitat for the lobsters. The pots are dropped overboard; a buoy tied to a rope lets the fisher know where the pot is, and this allows them to haul it aboard. Overnight, the hungry and curious lobsters leave their rock crevice for a free feed. The fishers haul these pots on board. The lobsters are checked for size compliance. Undersized lobsters, and females in berry, are returned to the ocean alive as are unwanted bycatch. The well-sized lobsters, some can reach 6kg in weight, are placed into a tank of seawater until the fishing boat is back onshore. They are then transferred to either a wet well or a tank containing fresh seawater.

Once back in at the wharf, the catch is sold to local Co-ops or wholesalers. Some fishers even sell their catch direct to the public. Either way, you can't get them any fresher!

Southern Rock Lobsters are fished all along Victoria's coast and landed at places like Portland, Warrnambool, Apollo Bay, Queenscliff, Flinders, San Remo, Port Welshpool, Mallacoota, and Lakes Entrance.

Southern Rock Lobster is always available at the San Remo, Apollo Bay, and Lakes Entrance Fishermen's Co-ops with limited sales direct from fishing boats in season. They are readily available through Melbourne's excellent metropolitan markets, fishmongers, and seafood suppliers. Do not be confused with imported lobster tails or small lobsters from the warmer water off Western Australia. These do not have the same exquisite taste, and the texture is nowhere as good or as fresh!

If buying a live lobster, look for individuals missing as few limbs as possible. Store live lobster in the fridge if you are cooking straight away, or the freezer to be thawed out for later consumption.

Lobster can be sold cooked by your favourite seafood provider. Ideally, lobsters are entire with an unbroken shell and have intact limbs. They should feel heavy for their size and have a pleasant aroma of the sea. Store cooked lobster wrapped in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for up to 3 to 4 days. Freeze them if you require a longer time.

When you purchase your lobster, remember to bring an esky with ice packs to transport the lobster to where you will prepare it. Do not use loose ice as this will melt and drown the lobster if it's alive.

It is essential live lobsters are stunned prior to any cooking or further preparation. Do this by placing them in the freezer for 30 minutes. To boil a lobster, place a stunned individual into a large pot rapidly boiling salted water until cooked and then refreshed in iced water until cold then drain. Alternatively, a strong sharp knife can be inserted between the antennae to kill the lobster instantly. It can then be cut in half lengthways using the knife.

All of the lobster is edible in one form or another, except for the gills which are found in the head. The tail can be removed by holding the body of the lobster in one hand and the tail in the other. Twist the tail 90° or more and it should snap away from the body. Use kitchen shears to cut where the softer under side of the tail meets the harder outer shell. Peel this away to reveal the sweet, succulent tail Some remove the intestinal tract, a black line that extend down the centre of the tail from the head. Remove this with the tip of a sharp knife. Twist the limbs from the body, these are filled with long morsels of very sweet white lobster meat which can be retrieved with a lobster fork or skewer.

Save the shells. If you aren’t using them immediately, put in a plastic bag and freeze. Then roast the shells and crush them. Then cook with vegetables and water to make a lobster stock for bisque or seafood risotto.