St Andrews Seafoods: Lobster Supplier
Our Lobster Gear
Our Lobster Gear - St Andrews Seafoods
Traditional Scottish Lobster creels were made from wood and nylon fishing net and mounted on a wooden base. These materials were readily available and cheap. The downside is that they have a relatively short life and tend to float.
One of the features of a creel is that it is highly selective. This means that by and large we catch only what we are trying to catch. Uniquely, in the case that we do catch something we don't want then creels keep the animals alive and we can let them go again. Done right creel fishing has a very low environmental impact with no by-catch.
Our creels are a little different. For a start they are not a traditional D shape. Instead they are box shaped and made from steel weldmesh. The D shape came about because canes were traditionally bent over the base to make the bows. Even with modern materials the traditional shape is still hanging on. We prefer the rectangular shape as they stack more securely and take up less deck space. They also give the creel more volume for a given length, width and height. This gives the Lobsters more space to move around in whilst they are wating for the creel to be emptied. Steel also has the advantage that it sinks in water and so doesn't need as much ballast weight as a wooden creel. For us this means a creel which is lighter in deck to move about but heavier in the water to sink and stay stable.