California Spiny Lobster Season Returns
There’s a season we celebrate every year, symbolized by an icon cloaked in red who brings joy to seafood lovers on the West Coast. No, it’s not Santa Claus. In fact, there are no claws at all. When the calendar pages turn to October, it signals the start of California Spiny Lobster season!
Get ready to throw on a buoy bib and dig into this uniquely Californian delicacy!
What is a Spiny Lobster?
Part of the Palinuridae family, Spiny Lobsters get their name from the forward-pointing spines that cover their bodies to protect them from predators. While that’s one point of visual distinction, you can also tell them apart from their North American Hardshell counterparts by the lack of front claws, their powerful tails and long, spiky antennae.
Also referred to as Rock Lobster, Spiny Lobsters can be found in warmer seas around the world. In the waters of the Bahamas, New Zealand and South Africa, you can find them under the name Crawfish or Crayfish – a name typically reserved for Freshwater Crawfish in the United States.
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Don’t let the lack of front claws fool you or deter you – the meat yield of the Spiny Lobster, or “bugs” as they’re affectionately called, is generally about 25% more per pound compared to a North American Hardshell Lobster.
Without front claws as a defense mechanism, Spiny Lobsters will use their powerful tails and strong spines as a means of defense against sheepshead, black seabass, sea otters and octopuses. It’s from this muscular section where most of the meat is found.
Spiny Lobsters are also predators themselves. As nocturnal scavengers, they come out of their dens to forage in the rocky areas where they reside to feed on mussels, sea urchin, small fish and sometimes other lobsters.
California Spiny Lobster Season
The season for California Spiny Lobster typically runs from October through March. And, of the spiny lobsters caught in California, as little as 10% stay in the United States. It's a unique treat and Water Grill is pleased to be one of the only places where California Spiny Lobster is on the menu during the season.
Management over the fisheries of California Spiny Lobsters is overseen by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, which sets strict daily catch and permit issuance numbers during the season.
Enforcement most often occurs through managing the size of the lobsters that are caught. All lobsters, both commercially and recreationally caught, must be of legal size, which is defined by the lobster having a carapace (or top outer shell) of 3.5” in length.
Spiny Lobsters will achieve this length when they are about seven to 11 years of age. This allows them to reproduce at least once in their lifetime, ensuring the continuation of the species.
Typically caught by lobster traps that slowly move into deeper waters as the season progresses, about 80% of the spiny lobsters that are caught measure at one and a quarter to two pounds. Some have been known to reach as much as 20 pounds.
Like their name suggests, California Spiny Lobsters are caught off the coast of California, with a range as far south as Magdalena Bay in Baja California, Mexico, and as far north as Morro Bay, Calif.
California Spiny Lobster on our menus
At Water Grill, you’ll find live, wild California Spiny Lobster swimming in our saltwater tanks. We prepare them to order, finished on the grill and paired with lobster butter and a grilled lemon. Check out our daily menus and catch this Californian delicacy while it’s in season!
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Packed Like Sardines - A History Equally Full of Flavor
What if we told you “It Happened In Monterey” was actually about tasting sardines for the first time?
It’s not. But Monterey, California is deserving of its own anthem for bringing the pelagic schooling fish into pop culture. Two Steinbeck novels, lyrics in a Bob Dylan song and serving as the backdrop to a Nick Nolte film aren’t enough.
Sardines are celebrating a resurgence, and it’s one that we hope is here to stay.
History
Long before Californians were swooning over sardines, Lisbon put them on the map. Chalk it up to another Roman “discovery”. Romans first settled Lisbon in 19 BC and discovered the fish in abundance along the coast. It quickly became a staple of the local diet and has persevered centuries later for the Portuguese.
Sardines have enjoyed a rich history ever since, with the innovation of canning – in France, by Nicolas Appert – taking them global. In fact, in 1836, it’s estimated that the Breton coast in Northern France was producing about 30,000 tins of sardines. By 1880, that number skyrocketed to 50,000,000 tins – each packed by hand.
It’s during this boom that sardines came stateside. But the Franco-Prussian War in 1870 pumped the brakes on imports. As necessity is the mother of invention, American entrepreneurs capitalized on the opportunity. Commercial canning on the East Coast began in 1875. (It was actually Atlantic herring, but let’s not get hung up on specifics.) Maine embraced the sardine more than any other state on the East Coast, with over 400 sardine factories at its peak. None remain in the state today.
While the East Coast had Sardineland (their word, not ours) and Atlantic herring, the West Coast had Cannery Row (in Monterey, California) and Pacific sardines. The season was bigger out West too, running from October to March.
At its peak from 1936 to 1945, the factories in Monterey were producing an average of 332,000 tons (over 13,000,000 tins a year). However, by the late 1950s, workers had left, sardine fishing had nearly ceased and the fish had all but disappeared. In 1967, the fishery was closed.
From 1967 to 1986, a commercial harvest moratorium on Pacific sardines was enforced. Restrictive measures were adopted in Portugal as well, as sardine stocks fell below target biological levels in 2009.
They’re back (and on the menu!)
Populations of Pacific sardines began to recover in the 1980s, thanks to strict fisheries management. Today, it’s regulated, and commercial fishing allowances fluctuate based on the population trends of the fish.
Tough measures in Portugal appear to be bringing the critical fish back from the brink as well.
Our dish at select Water Grill destinations is an homage to the “Sardine Capital of the World” in Monterey as well as the rich tradition and quality of tinned products in Portugal. We present the sardines on a wood board and accompany them with a traditional vegetable escabeche, preserved lemon-manzanilla olive relish, lemon slices, butter and toasted baguette.
Our sardines come to us from Conservas Pinhais, one of the oldest preserving factories in Portugal, which follows an artisanal canning method it developed over 100 years ago in 1920.
Further Reading
- Monterey Bay Aquarium - Meet the Pacific (California) Sardine
- Monterey Sardine Story
- Cannery Row
- Zingerman's Deli - The Surprisingly Rich History of Sardines
- Eating Europe - Sardines in Lisbon
