Michaela Can: Lesson in Lobster

Newport, RI - In this installment of "Michaela Can" we're taking you to the coast to see what it takes to catch a delicious dinner.

Hop aboard 'Sea Time' and start the engine! It’s aboard the boat that you’ll catch a tasty treat. "I like the freedom of it. I mean, I don't have a boss and everyday on the water.

A bad day fishing is better than a good day at work” said Ian Sylvestre, Captain and owner of the fishing vessel ‘Sea Time’.

To be a lobsterman, you need to look the part. Throw on a pair of galoshes, followed by an apron. Things can get messy so you should don a pair of gloves as well. Once in the appropriate gear, it’s time for a crustacean education.

Father and son duo, Ian and Russell Sylvestre have been scooping lobster out of the water for many years. "I've been fishing for twenty-eight years. I started off with a bigger boat and as I got older I’ve slowed down a little bit and I’ve moved onto this faster smaller boat” said Ian.

He needs the speed in order to make quick work with his 300 traps which he baits with skate.

"I'm allowed to fish up to eight-hundred pots. So, we'll typically try to fish two or three hundred pots a day, depending on the weather and the distance that they are off shore. And, we'll typically start a morning at five in the morning and get back two or three o'clock in the afternoon. Sell out. Gather bait for the next day of fishing and keep it going,” said Ian.

In order to gather the lobster, the traps must be pulled from the water.

"You'll come upon your first buoy and you'll snag it. Hopefully you'll get a lot of lobsters in your first pots. If you don't, you're faced with the question, do I put those pots back where I didn't catch any lobsters or do I have to move them. And, that's a constant battle that you're doing. If you do good in that one spot you might want to stay around if you don't do so good, it’s like fishing, maybe they're over there, over there, you're always chasing the lobsters,” Ian said.

One by one the traps are pulled aboard and lobsters are collected. They need to be a certain size in order to pull them from the water.

“Every lobster has to be of legal size. It has to be three and three eighths hair of this length,” Ian said.

All lobsters are banded and kept in the cooler along with any other creatures they happen to collect. After re-baiting the traps, and putting them back in the water it's time to sell!

"I take in the lobsters from the guys, I sort them by hard, soft, culls, and size, whatever they are and then I record whatever the guy brings in so each guy gets paid for exactly what he brings in. Then I put them in here and sell them to the public,” Russell said.

Selling anywhere from 100 to 300 per day, the lobster shack gets busy, but it's all worth it.

"It's great. It's nice to work with your family you get to spend a lot of time with your father growing up and always be together on the water which is obviously nice,” Russell added.

The Newport Lobster Shack is open 7 days a week. Be sure to check their website for the hours of operation http://www.thenewportlobstershack.com/ .