Dream Boat Fisheries Inc.
Lobster Shipment Process
Grading Lobster
Grading lobster is the most important step in ensuring an efficient operation. Often, lobster are caught with deficiencies such as having only one claw, being classified as weak, or being classified as a soft shell lobster reducing the overall quality. These lobsters are separated into separate crates and sent to lobster processing facilities where they are either canned or packaged and frozen. The quality graded lobsters are stored in our lobster holding facilities in the same cold water as they were caught and inventoried.
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Not only are we grading out the culls (one clawed/blemished lobster), we are trained for grading lobster into categories of chix (1.0 – 1.24 lbers.), quarters (1.25 – 1.49 lbers.), halves/selects/jumbos (1.5 – 20 lbers.) directly from the trap to the crate while we are fishing by eye.
Step 1
Step 2
Identification of Lobster Crates
Due diligences are used before storing the lobster in the holding facility. Before the lobsters are stored, assurances are made to not pack the lobster in their crates too tight. This gives aid to lobster being able to move around keeping themselves clean and having a sufficient supply of oxygen to survive at longer periods of time.
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These same crates are then tagged according to the lobster’s sizes and dated when caught. This gives aid to the expediency of packaging for shipment and managing risk of not having to handle lobster too many times which can compromise the quality.
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Also with tagging the crates, this helps us ensure that we stick to our policy of ensuring that lobsters are held in the holding facility no more than three weeks at a time.
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After two weeks of lobster being stored in crates, they are then transferred to lobster cage where they are tubed into their separate compartments and put into hibernation. This maintains life and quality of the lobster until they get to our customers.
Step 3
Lobster orders
Only lobsters that have been on inventory for no shorter period than 48 hours are processed and sold to the customer. This allows the lobster to completely digest the bait which they were caught with and to be cleaned out for the consumer to enjoy.
Step 4
Precision Grading
Upon receipt of a customer order, crates are graded a second time inside our Canadian Food Inspection Agency approved processing facilities based on customers more precise orders (ie. Chix (1.0 – 1.24 lbs.) quarters (1.25 – 1.49 lbs.), halves (1.5 – 1.74 lbs.), small selects (1.75 – 1.99 lbs.), medium selects (2.0 – 2.99 lbs.), large selects (3.0 – 3.99 lbs.), jumbos (4.0 – and up).
Step 5
Packaging
Lobsters can then be processed along with proper records kept for each separate shipment and certificates of health and origin are to be issued with each foreign shipment if required by the customer, foreign, or domestic regulatory and traceability requirements.
