“Gone walkabout” is an expression used by the indigenous people of Australia. It’s traditionally a rite of passage during which males undergo a journey into the wilderness while in their teens in order to make the spiritual transition into manhood. This walking journey can take as long as six months, after which the young man returns to his tribe. Australian Aboriginals of course have nothing to do with lobsters in the Caribbean, except that one year our tasty langoustes DID have themselves a walkabout!
The Pizzeria was (and still IS) famous for its lobster pizza, and a lot of effort was put into stocking up on the precious seafood. As soon as the lobster season opened in September I would buy copious amounts, often with money I had borrowed from the bank, to ensure that lobster pizza was always on the menu. Supply was always an issue once the tourist season began in December so we boiled, cleaned and froze as much lobster as we could during the “off” season. Life became much easier when my friend Orbin agreed to provide me with lobster, and for many years he was my sole and very reliable supplier, arriving once or twice a week with sacks overflowing with live lobsters.
One year the season opened in September as usual and Orbin, who would normally come with 300 pounds of lobster, arrived with a paltry amount. He had set all his traps with little luck, either the catch was poor or someone had helped themselves to his lobsters. The following week the amount Orbin brought was even worse, and he told me that he wasn’t alone; NO-ONE was catching lobster in their traps, and divers were returning to the surface empty-handed. I began to worry – I needed to get thousands of pounds into the freezers and we were making little headway. WHY was there no lobster? Where WERE they?
The situation remained dire. Orbin was forced to raise his price per pound and I could understand why, but the price hike only added to my feelings of frustration and helplessness. My customers didn’t want to hear the words “lobster is scarce”, they expected it to adorn their pizzas, be served up in quiches and stuffed into pita bread. They wanted lobster salads, quesadillas and bisque, and turned their noses up at the expensive shrimp I was forced to buy as a substitute. One couple, regulars who dined on lobster pizza every week, took me aside and BEGGED me to find some lobster for them no matter the cost. I asked if they were ready to pay for it to be flown it in from Maine and they thought I was being flippant. I was serious!
Orbin continued to bring between 25 – 30 pounds of lobster each week, which provided very little meat once cleaned. The day came when Orbin, on finding he had caught just one small lobster, pulled his traps out of the sea in disgust and took them home. He and his wife ate that last lobster, and it was indeed the last lobster of the season. I coped as best I could under the circumstances; many people canceled dinner reservations when told we had no lobster, and I had to listen to bitter complaints all winter long. I was relieved when May 1st arrived and I could tell people that lobster was out of season, it had been a very stressful year.
The following September I held my breath; would Orbin bring lobster or would his pots be empty? To my delight and GREAT relief, he arrived with bulging sacks of the popular seafood – we were in business once again! We never found out WHY the lobsters had mysteriously disappeared from our waters the year before, and I guess we’ll never know.
I figure they simply went walkabout, and took the ladies with them!
The unexplained trials and tribulations of depending on mother nature! Thanks for sharing your encounter!
I was interested to see that those warm water lobsters are so spiny and have no claws. I think lobsters migrate to deep water in Winter because they are following warmer water temperatures found in deeper water during Winter. Maybe they went on walkabout because the water inshore was not a warm as usual for some reason during the Summer/Fall that year.