Your Boat Toilets Experts Know All the Secrets of Harvesting Seafood From Your Boat

Raritan Engineering Company your boat toilets specialists would like to share with you these topics we thought would be of interest to you this month regarding how to become a master chef harvesting seafood from your boat. 

Lobsters are supreme hiders, and I’m instructed to keep a keen eye out for the telltale sign of their long antennae, which peek out from hiding spots. Once I have one in my crosshairs, I’m to let go of the rope, dive underwater, lure the lobster out of its hole with the tickle stick and pop it in my net. 

Although long considered one of the most edible riches of the sea, lobsters aren’t the only shellfish that are fun to catch and tasty to eat. Folks with access to a boat and a coast can harvest a bevy of delicious sea life, such as scallops, shrimp, oysters and stone crabs, pretty much anywhere like I do in Florida. 

Loving the Lobster

I learn that cleaning a lobster is fairly simple: hold it by the torso and twist off the tail. Before chucking the thorax and head, Doug has me snap off one of the spiny antennae and demonstrates how to insert it into the bug’s bottom to easily remove the membrane and waste track and, voila, it’s ready to prepare for dinner.

To safely hunt lobsters, a minimum of three crew members is needed: one to run the boat, another to serve as the drag buddy and a third to spot the bugs. 

Go to http://raritaneng.com/raritan-product-line/marine-toilets/marine-elegance/ and see how you can find more information as well as get assistance on boat toilets and on how to harvest seafood from your boat at Raritan Engineering.

Your boat toilets professionals know that lobsters are social creatures and prefer to live cramped together on natural shelves and holes, called “condos” by local divers, within coral and stony reefs. 

The law requires a lobster to have a minimum 3-inch-long carapace (the part of the shell covering its torso), which means it’s old enough to have reproduced for at least one season. If it measures up, chances are that bug may be getting toasty on your grill tonight. 

There are two lobster seasons in Florida: a mini season that runs on the final consecutive Wednesday and Thursday of each July and then an eight-month season from August 6 through March 31 the following year.

Searching for Scallops

Scalloping, often referred to as the “great underwater Easter egg hunt,” is an aquatic adventure suitable for all ages. All you need is standard snorkeling gear, a required dive flag, and a mesh bag in which to store your stash.

They’re easy for novice and veteran scallop hunters alike to spot. With unmistakable fan-shaped shells and hundreds of fluorescent beady blue eyes, beguiling temptresses beckon to be caught. 

Scalloping season in Florida runs annually from June 25 to September 24. Each person is limited to 2 gallons of scallops in the shell or 10 gallons per vessel per day.

Clawing for Crabs

In Florida, once scalloping season closes, the long-anticipated stone crab season rides in on its coattails. Considered by many to be one of the most heavenly delicacies of the sea, stone crabs are named for their natural environment — they usually seek shelter under big, flat stones in shallow rock piles and jetties.

Wear heavy gloves and dive using scuba or snorkeling gear; lift up large stones or use a hook to drag the crab out; then square off in a battle with your prey. Stone crabs generally aren’t swift, so try to nab one by the elbows coming in from around each side.

Unlike scallops, stone crab claws should not be put on ice because the meat will later stick to the shell. Instead, store them in a livewell or an empty cooler. Each person is allowed 1 gallon of claws per day, or a maximum of 2 gallons per vessel.

The Shrimp Dip

Although even professional shrimpers can’t accurately predict when shrimp will be most plentiful, full moons, outgoing tides, colder months, shallow, grassy flats, and areas near bridges with strong currents enhance your chances for this crustacean crusade. 

Like much marine life, shrimp are primarily dormant during the day and rely on moving about in the darkness of night as protection from their natural predators. 

On to the Oysters

Oysters are largely stationary mollusks, which makes harvesting them fairly simple from aboard your boat or wading in the water. 

A single oyster can spawn 100 million eggs each year that, once fertilized underwater with sperm, form free-floating larvae, which anchor themselves to hard surfaces, frequently on the shells of other oysters, and become known as “spats,” or baby oysters. 

Oyster shells have sharp edges, so be sure to wear heavy gloves. Using a metal, curved rake or oyster tongs, chip the oysters off the hard surface and put them in your bucket. 

So don’t forget these wonderful types of food that you can harvest from your boat, lobster, scallops, crabs, oysters, and shrimp. Don’t miss out on this opportunity. 

Learn more at Raritan Engineering and see how we always have more information on boat toilets and on how to harvest seafood from your boat. 

via Harvesting Seafood From Your Boat

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