The Bahamian Spiny Lobster The Bahamian Spiny Lobster Fishery Fishery
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Spiny Lobster Processing at: Spiny Lobster Processing at:
Tropic Seafood, Ltd.Tropic Seafood, Ltd.Nassau, BahamasNassau, Bahamas
By Jon ChaitonMarch 14, 2013
Commercial Spiny Lobster Fishing Vessels supply lobster tails to Tropic Seafood, Ltd.
Each mother-ship carries with it from 3-
15 skiffs, each outfitted with a
compressor. At least two divers work the
skiff taking turns operating the
compressor and diving for spiny lobster
Skiffs
The large mother-ships have blast freezing and
freezer storage capacity of around 50,000 lbs. of spiny
lobster tails
In the Bahamas Spiny Lobster Fishery “Condominiums” or
“Casitas” are placed by fishermen on the sea floor. Spiny lobster and other sea
life seek shelter beneath this protective enclosure.
Concrete blocks are used to weigh down the roof of the
condo and keep the unit in place
After some time at sea, the condos become encrusted
with marine life and become almost a natural habitat for
spiny lobster.
Many species of fish find shelter under the condo as well as spiny lobster
Notice the diversity of marine life that utilize the condo for habitat
This sea turtle is undoubtedly looking for a
spiny lobster lunch
Bahamian hogfish also utilize the condo for
protection
The great barracuda are predators of the
spiny lobster and are often seen
lurking around the condos
Once the condo is lifted up by the
fisherman, spiny lobster of all sizes
are found underneath
All these spiny lobster were using the condo for refuge. The diver will select only legal sized lobsters with a carapace length of at least 3.25 inches for
harvesting.
Undersize lobsters are left alone to return to the
condo to continue growing so that they have the chance to
spawn at least one time before being harvested
Hooks are used to pull the lobster out
from under the condo. This group of spiny lobster is now ready to be carried
to the surface
Hook end
The diver surfaces with the lobster after harvesting
each condo
Spiny Lobsters are placed on ice in the fish holds of each skiff. This helps maintain freshness.
Once aboard the skiff the
tails are removed and
delivered to the mother-ship
The end of the fishing trip means the beginning of processing.
40 lb. bags of frozen lobster tails are received into the
loading dock at Tropic Seafood, Ltd.
Each bag (or “Kit” as it is called in the Bahamas) is weighed and checked for temperature, quality and
level of bi-sulfite
Frozen tails are placed in environmentally controlled thawing tanks overnight
After overnight thawing the tails are place on a conveyor
for cleaning and inspection
Technicians extract the intestinal tract and
check the tail for quality
Approximately 75 trained technicians are used each
day to clean and inspect the lobster tails
Tails are sprayed with Ozonated water for
continuous sanitization throughout the process
line
After cleaning tails are soaked in an ice-slush bath for re-chilling prior to grading
Lobster tails are placed onto the
grading conveyor where they are
weighed and graded at 80 tails per minute
Each tail is weighed 9 times as it moves across the scale. Those weights
are averaged and the information is sent to the
grader selector which reaches out and collects
each individual tail.
After Grading, tails are
inspected and placed into
individual poly bags then put into
10 lb. Net Wt. boxes
10 lb. Net Wt. boxes are then re-weighed by Check-
Weigher-Technicians to make sure that net weights are correct
Products are placed on Freezer racks and moved to the Blast Freezer overnight where the
temperature is maintained at -20 deg. F.
It is essential that all tails are “Hard-Frozen” completely
through before they can be moved to the
Metal Detection Area
After Blast Freezing each 10 lb. Net Wt. box is checked for pack quality, appearance, frozen state
and uniformity prior to being put through the Safeline Metal Detection System
In the morning, the product is checked for its frozen state. Racks are removed from the Blast Freezer and brought to
the Metal Detection area
Each 10 lb. box is passed through the
Metal Detector before moving on to the Case-
Out area
Four 10 lb. Net Wt. boxes are
placed into each 40 lb. Master
Case. The cases are sealed,
strapped, labeled and staged on
pallets.
Completed master cases are temporarily staged on the shipping dock, then immediately
moved into Tropic Seafood, Ltd’s
Cold Storage Freezer until they are shipped
40% of Tropic Seafood, Ltd’s Spiny Lobster Tail Production goes to Europe
50% of Tropic Seafood, Ltd’s Spiny Lobster Tail Production goes to the USA
The remaining 10% is sold to countries like China, Canada with some domestic sales to the Bahamas
No cleaning or sanitizing chemicals are used in the processing area at
TSL.
Only ozone is used as a sanitizing agent at TSL. It is generated in-
house and it is extremely effective in pathogen reduction.
At Tropic Seafood, Ltd., Ozone is used to:
*Sanitize the Product*Sanitize the Environment*Sanitize the Workers
Tropic Seafood, Ltd., has been the leader in Spiny Lobster Tail Production in the Bahamas and the Caribbean since 1973. The facility is
in full compliance with USFDA and EU Codus Alimentarius and HACCP Standards.
On December 21, 2012 Tropic Seafood, Ltd., became the first company in the entire Caribbean and the only company in The
Bahamas to receive the BRC Compliance Certificate, a Global Standard for Food Safety,
for their production of Spiny Lobster Tails.
Tropic Seafood, Ltd., is the First lobster company in the world to receive this honor. No other lobster company can make this claim.
Tropic Seafood, Ltd., received a Grade of “A” during their BRC inspection
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