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Delicious Atlantic Lobster
The pristine waters of Prince Edward Island provide the ideal environment
for the Atlantic Lobster. This crustacean has an elongated body with
four sets of legs, and two large front claws. Underneath the abdomen
are six pairs of swimmerets (also called pleopods). The first pair
of swimmerets, closest to the head, are hard and bonelike in the male,
but soft and featherlike in the female. The last of the pairs is enlarged
and forms what we usually think of as the tail. Live lobsters range
in colour from brownish to greenish-brown; all lobster shells turn
bright orangey-red when cooked. The white flesh is pleasantly firm
and dense with a rich, savoury flavour.
Lobsters have compound eyes, each made up of as many as 14,000 individual units, that are located on the end of short stalks. They can detect movement, though they may not be able to detect different colors.
Adults molt three or four times a year, the only way they can increase their size. In preparation for molting, the lobster lays down a new, soft shell underneath its old hard carapace, then seeks out a rocky crevice for protection from predators during this extremely vulnerable stage of life. (Not only is a newly molted lobster soft—it can barely move.) Then the lobster rolls onto its side, bends into a V shape, shrinks its extremities by drawing fluids from them, and withdraws from its old shell. If it finds itself unable to squirm out of the old shell, the lobster may self-amputate a leg or claw to release itself—a skill that may also help it escape a predator, as seen in some small land lizards. Over several hours after molting, the lobster regains its larger size and the new shell begins to harden. If it has self-amputated, the missing leg or claw will begin to regenerate.
Reproduction
The Atlantic lobster can mate only when the female is soft, shortly
after molting. At this time the female releases a pheromone, and the
mating pair begin a courtship dance with their claws held closed.
Then the male inserts his first pair of pleopods into the female's
seminal receptacle and deposits his sperm packets there, where they
stay until the female produces eggs—sometimes as long as 15 months
after mating. Once the eggs are released from the female's oviducts
into the seminal receptacle and fertilized by the stored sperm, they
are cemented to the swimmerets, where they remain for 10 to 11 months
before hatching. The transparent, bug-eyed larvae molt four times
over 10 to 20 days, depending on water temperature, and congregate
near the surface of the water, mixing with other types of plankton.
They are extremely vulnerable to predation, and only about one-tenth
of one percent of the larvae survive to young adulthood, when they
sink to the rocky ocean bottom, safer from predators. In the first
year of its adult life, a young lobster will molt about 10 times and
reaches a length of 2.5 to 3.8 centimeters. As lobsters grow older,
they molt less and less frequently. It takes about six years for a
lobster to reach a weight of half a kilogram.
Diet
The Atlantic lobster eats mainly live food such as fish, small crustaceans,
and mollusks.
Island Blue Mussels
Island Blues are reputed to be the best mussels in the world. In fact the high demand for island grown blue mussels has spawned a multi-million dollar industry.
Blue mussels are bivalves and filter their food which consists of
plankton and other microscopic organisms from the water. The mussel
sucks in water through its inhalant siphon, the larger of the two
with a frayed edge, and then pumps it out through the exhalent siphon
which is smaller and has a smooth edge. A mussel of about 1 year has
the ability to pump between 2-3 litres of water an hour. An older
individual can pump as much as 6-9 litres an hour. The water is also
pumped though the gills inside the mussel to give it oxygen. The gills
even function as a filter to extract the particles of food out of
the water where they are then transported to the mouth and the stomach.
During the spring, when water temperatures rise to about 10-12 °C
the Blue mussel begins to mate. Mussels have different sexes, and
the male is the first release its "milk" into the water.
This is sensed by the females which immediately release their eggs
into the water. A female of average size can expel between 5-12 million
eggs into the water. In 24 hours they transform into larvae with a
shell, sail and a characteristic black eye. They live in a suspended
stage for about 3-4 weeks, whereupon they start the second stage of
their life, the attached stage. The mussel starts looking for a suitable
foundation to attach itself to. When it finds a suitable surface,
it attaches itself with a few byssus threads. The threads are secreted
from a byssus gland which is used for it’s entire life span. The more
the mussel is exposed to waves and currents, the more byssus threads
it develops. If the mussel should need to move, it cuts off its threads
and develops new ones later.
The young mussels or spat are then placed in long mesh tubes called
mussel socks. There are three different sizes depending on the size
of the spat. The socks are also placed on anchored horizontal lines
with buoys every sixteen feet or so. However, the mussel lines are
placed at least several feet under water. Here the mussels grow until
ready for harvest. It takes roughly eighteen months to produce a superior
mussel of the size and quality that we are renown for.
Island Blue Mussels are an extra-lean meat, low in sodium, low in fat and cholesterol free, high in protein and heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids. In fact when it comes to omega-3 fatty acids found in fish, mussels have more of it than any other shellfish.
Delicious, and healthy. Why not try some today.
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Opening June 28th - Closing September 25th
Fully Licensed Air Conditioned Dining Interac,
Visa, MasterCard and American Express Accepted
Hours of Operation 4:00 pm - 8:00 pm daily, closed on Sunday
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