A lobsterman from Scarborough said Monday that he does not intend to cook a pair of rare colored lobsters that his family caught this summer.
Greg Turner, who operates Turner’s Lobster on Pine Point Road with his wife, Debbie, said he caught a lavender-colored lobster about three weeks ago while fishing outside Portland Harbor. His son, Tyler, who fishes on his own boat, caught a calico lobster in July.
Father and son decided to put the lobsters on display in the storage tanks at their Pine Point lobster pound, mostly because they wanted to offer customers, who may have never seen such vividly colored lobsters, an opportunity to see one.
Turner said a number of customers have stopped by to see the lobsters up close or to take photographs. Turner, who has been fishing for most of his life, said he has caught a few calico lobsters, but never one like the lavender one he found in his trap last month.
“Some people say it’s blue or opal, but to me it looks like it has got a light on inside it,” he said.
According to the University of Maine’s Lobster Institute, calico lobsters are very rare – occurring about once in every 30 million lobsters. Blue lobsters are found about once in every 2 million lobsters.
Turner said he is considering donating the lobsters to an aquarium. If there are no takers, then he plans to return the lobsters to the sea.
“I am not going to cook them,” Turner said.
The 59-year-old Turner, who first went fishing with his father when he was a child, has been fishing commercially for more than 25 years.
Greg Turner, a Scarborough lobsterman, and his son, Tyler, caught these rare lobsters this summer. They’ll avoid the cooking pot. (Photo courtesy of Brad Woodward)
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