Major producers are Atlantic Canada, Maine and Massachusetts, in that order. The lobsters are harvested from depths of 15 to 1,000 feet in rectangular, wire-mesh traps. A lobster sheds its shell annually, revealing a soft new one underneath. Though the newly molted lobster is much larger, its meat is watery and flaccid. Product Profile Lobster meat is mild and sweet in flavor.
Live lobsters range in color from brownish rust to bright blue to greenish brown.
All lobster shells turn bright red when cooked. The meat is white with red tinges. Live lobsters should be active, and their tails should curl, not dangle, beneath them. Consumers are advised not to eat the tomalley, the light-green substance found in the lobster. This is the liver and pancreas, thought to accumulate contaminants from the creature's environment.