To keep captured lobsters from eating each other, lobstermen immobilize the claws with bands or pegs. You must be a state resident and purchase a license . Traps are set on the ocean floor and baited with fish to attract the lobsters. Colored buoys mark trap locations. Buoys have distinct color pattern and number combinations that are registered to individual lobstermen.
Fish bait attracts the lobster to crawl in mesh entrances on the end or the sides of the trap.
The entrances are constructed in a way that makes it very difficult for a lobster to escape. Traps provide extra security and capacity by having a second unbaited chamber with a similar entrance. The depth of these traps varies depending on the time of year. During the peak lobster season in the fall, traps are checked and rebaited at least every other day. A lobster is measured from the base of its eye socket to the end of its carapace, or body shell.