System for holding and transporting lobsters

A system for containerized transport of lobsters and other marine organisms in an aerated water environment comprising:

• a plurality of containers each formed with water tight base and side walls and a removable cover with vent hole means through said cover, each container having low pressure air diffuser means mounted inside adjacent the base for releasing low pressure air into the container and first air coupling means for delivering low pressure air to the diffuser means, each container also formed with inlet opening and outlet opening at respective spaced apart locations of said containers with fitting means for coupling and circulating sea water through said container;
• truck means including a flat bed for supporting and transporting said plurality of containers in upright position, said truck means including low pressure aeration compressor means and an aeration distribution system including a plurality of second air coupling means complementary to the first air coupling means on the plurality of containers for coupling and distributing low pressure air to the diffuser means of a plurality of containers supported on the flat bed of said truck means, pivotable boom means and hoist means mounted on said truck means for lifting said containers onto and off the flat bed of said truck, said pivotable boom means including container inverting means for controlled dumping of the contents of said containers lifted by the boom means and hoist means after the cover of a container has been removed.

A method for handling and transporting lobsters or other marine organisms comprising:

• providing a plurality of drum like containers for holding and transporting the lobsters;
• placing the containers on lobster boats or fishing boats and filling the containers with sea water;
• placing the lobsters as they are caught by the lobsterman into the containers;
• circulating fresh sea water through the containers while they are held on the lobster boat;
• draining the drum like containers of seawater when the lobster boat is unloading at the dock;
• lifting the drained containers from the boat for transport;
• weighing each drained container full of lobsters and subtracting the weight of the container to determine the weight of the lobsters in the container;
• refilling each container with sea water after weighing;
• aerating the sea water in each container with diffuse low pressure air while the containers are transported;
• transporting the containers to a lobster pound or similar destination;
• lifting each container and lowering the container to the surface of the water;
• and
• inverting the container and emptying the lobsters into the lobster pound.

A method for handling, transporting and unloading lobsters or other marine organisms immersed in aerated sea water from a boat at the dock to a lobster pound or similar destination comprising:

• providing a plurality of drum-like containers without compartments or subdivisions for holding and transporting lobsters in close proximity immersed in sea water, when a lobster boat or fishing boat is ready for unloading at the dock;
• filling the containers with sea water to minimize sloshing during handling and loading the lobsters into the containers, substantially filling the containers with lobsters in close proximity;
• aerating the sea water in each container by releasing diffuse low pressure air at the base of each container while the lobsters are held and transported in the containers, and maintaining said air at pressure sufficiently low to avoid supersaturation of the water;
• transporting the containers to a lobster pound or similar destination;
• lifting each container and lowering the container to the surface of the water;
• and,
• upending the container and emptying the lobsters into the lobster pound, without individual handling of the lobsters whereby the lobsters are immersed in aerating sea water during handling and transport from the dock to the lobster pound and are returned to the sea water without significant exposure to the air and without individual handling.