http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/Canada/1066671.html

No escape for giant lobster

Thu. Jul 10 -

SHEDIAC, N.B. (CP) — A lobster that’s so big it can’t fit into a lobster trap has been hauled in by a fisherman and is now on the market.

"It was caught in the Bay of Fundy," Denis (The Clam Man) Paulin, a New Brunswick fish buyer who came into possession of the giant lobster, said Wednesday.

"It’s 22 pounds (10 kilograms.)"

The last time Paulin was able to buy a lobster even approaching this size was several years ago, when a 17.5-pound specimen, or eight kilograms, was sold at retail to a Quebec tourist for about $600.

That lobster fed 10 diners.

There was no question of letting the lobster go free, Paulin said, even if some might think it deserves a better fate after having eluded lobster traps for up to an estimated 100 years — though there is no way to tell the lobster’s age for sure without an autopsy.

Not after he bought it for an undisclosed price and then drove more than six hours to fetch it and transport it to Big Fish.

However, if someone wants to buy the huge crustacean and set it free, well, that’s up to them.