Hunting for Sweden’s black gold
Together with twelve other expectant lobster hunters, I board the fishing boat
LL 44 Marie on a windy day in October. We have all escaped the city buzz to battle the forces of nature off the most rugged part of Sweden’s west coast.
Dentist Anders Sjölin is the first to get lobsters in his lobster trap. Photo: Marcus Nyberg
Thanks to Tommy and Martin Olofsson, father and son, we’ll be getting the chance to land the black gold of Bohuslän province – lobster. Here, around the old fishing community of Smögen on an island 135 km north of Gothenburg, lobster fishing is no child’s game.
Apart from myself, today’s thrill seekers are four dentists and their wives plus four guys celebrating a 50th birthday, and they all look keyed up for this – despite the harsh weather. We’re being tossed about on the boat in driving rain, more or less groggy from the waves. But it feels more real this way. Hunting lobster with the sun glittering on a becalmed Skagerrak in October would have been far too comfortable.
The first catch
We don’t have to sail far before it’s time to haul up the first lobster trap. After a few minutes’ muscle-exhausting struggle to bring it to the surface, the cage is lying on the deck. And, yes, there’s something moving about inside.
Unfortunately it turns out to be two crabs that couldn’t resist the strong-smelling mackerel bait. These stubborn creatures have no intention of leaving their new playground and they fight tooth and nail – well, claw and jaw, perhaps – to stay put.
Tommy, our eminent chief huntsman, is a man of action, however, and shows us soft-pawed city dwellers how to pluck the crabs out of the lobster trap. The lobster trap is then re-baited and we’re sailing off toward our next catch.
Suddenly the sun decides to look down on Birgitta and Anders Sjölin. Photo: Marcus Nyberg
Stuck in the deep
Dentist Anders Sjölin is next in line to haul up a lobster trap. But he has his work cut out; the lobster trap is caught on something in the deep. Anders exerts all his dental strength and finally manages to pull it free. He starts hauling the lobster trap up to the surface, and the tension rises as the rope piles up on deck.
Sjölin’s toils were well worth the effort, for when the lobster trap breaks the surface it contains two black, hard-shelled travelers – a male and a female. The trouble is, the larger female turns out to have roe under its tail, which means it has to be returned to the deep, according to the fishing rules.
Tommy Olofsson is pleased to see that the catch is large enough, 8 cm along the shield, to land for the dinner table. Photo: Marcus Nyberg
“Enjoying nature is the important part”
Lars-Göran Wallberg, Pelle Norén, Lars-Göran Wärnström and Rikard Sande, all from different parts of Sweden, have gathered in Smögen to celebrate Wallberg’s 50th birthday.
“Being in the great outdoors is the important part,” says 50-year-old Wallberg. “It’s fun to just get out here and enjoy yourself. It makes no difference if there’s a lobster in the lobster trap or not. As long as I catch more than my friends…”
Lars Nyqvist feels the same way. “This is a perfect thing to do with your friends. Everyone can make the trip – as long as they don’t get seasick too easily.”
During a coffee break on a rocky islet captain Martin Olofsson gives us a short history lesson. He then shares a secret with us: lobster is not his favorite shellfish. “I like prawns best, they’re always right – breakfast, lunch or dinner.” Jaws drop. The rest of us can’t wait to sink our teeth into one of these delicacies.
Fight to the death
In the last of the 14 lobster traps on the trip, there’s been a fight to the death – a 1.5 kilo lobster has slashed through a slightly smaller fellow specimen. “Being a lobster is tough,” says Tommy, as he gives the remains of the losing combatant a burial at sea.
Lobsters like to play rough. That’s why their claws are usually tied up with rubber bands. Photo: Marcus Nyberg
After four hours, the adventure comes to an end as the
LL 44 Marie puts in at its mooring beneath the Smögen Bridge.
The afternoon has given us a taste of this harsh landscape and the life of a fisherman, not to mention knowledge about creatures that I’d previously only seen alive and kicking in fancy food halls. A unique experience for me and my safari companions, but everyday fare for the Olofssons. “We’re booked up for safari trips until mid-November,” says Tommy, “but we’ll keep going until the end of the year if people want us to.”
Did you know?
• The lobster (
Homarus gammarus) first appeared as a
species 300 million years ago, which means it shared
the planet with dinosaurs.
• Lobsters hide by day and hunt by night.
• The lobster is an omnivore and sometimes eats others
of its own species.
• Lobsters can grow to 22–70 cm in length and, although
they can weigh 3–5 kg, specimens over 1 kg are fairly
unusual.
• A roecarrying female lobster has around 20,000 eggs,
but only five of those will reach adulthood.
• A lobster can live to be 50 years old or more.
Source: The Swedish Lobster Academy (Svenska Hummerakademien)
A beginner’s guide to lobster fishing
• Lobsters may be caught from the first Monday after
September 20 to April 30.
• Lobsters may only be caught in lobster traps.
• Lobster traps are usually baited with salted herring or
mackerel.
• Only lobsters measuring at least 8 cm along the shield
may be landed. You measure from the eye socket along
the back to where the shield ends.
Source: The Swedish Lobster Academy
Recipe: boiled lobster
1 lobster
2 l water
1.5 dl salt
1 glass of beer
Add salt and beer to the water and bring to the boil. Put in the lobster, head first, and boil for six minutes. Remove the pan from the cooker and place the lobster in a plastic bowl. Pour over the warm liquid. Let the lobster "draw" for about two hours. Lift it out and split it down the middle, remove the stomach and the intestines.
Hunting for Sweden’s black gold
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