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I personally never thought about the age of an animal before, and I am not sure what i would do in this case. But if you are to bring up the old age of a lobster, shouldn't you also bring up the young age of other animals slaughtered before they have even exited adolescence? I have no problems eating veal, and do not know why eating a 70 year old lobster would be different....but I do hesitate when saying that I would chow down.

Honestly, how tasty is a lobster that old going to be? I've always preferred them around a pound. That aside, it is strictly an emotional issue, but I think I'd hesitate too. I'd agree that he deserves the get out of jail free card.

Honestly, I hesitate before eating any animal, even though I'm not a vegetarian (although I was one a couple decades ago). I always try to keep in mind the life of the animal, how it was raised, how it was slaughtered. I'm not trying to be soap-box-y, just respectful of the animals that give their lives for my dinner.

Some people are concerned whether boiling a live lobster is painful or cruel, but I suppose it's equally plausible that the end of an elderly lobster's life is slow and painful and lobsters don't simply die in their sleep the way we'd like to believe that the luckiest of elderly humans expire. So I could see an argument for lobster euthanasia.

Nope. He deserves something better than being eaten.
I am a year into pescatarianaism, so I still eat lobster, but I could not eat one that old.

I am with Chowdahead on the reverse argument for veal (other baby animals etc.) which I have never but once eaten.

Just because it is technically edible does not mean it HAS to b eaten. :) Let him live. :)

Sounds tough. No thanks.

Bowhead whales live about two human lives. They taste absolutely delicious. Would I spend almost three bills for tough lobster, definitely not.

I've had a big lobster once. It wasnt nearly as big or old as this guy, but it was near 5 pounds, i think (@chowdahead, probably not a Maine lobster). The lobster meat went into many dishes in our meal that night. It wasnt particularly tasty though. It's tough and isn't sweet when they get that big. It just makes for a good story and a big check.
*shrug*

NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM

I couldn't do it. I'm sure people can make a gazillion arguments about considering the age of other animals (as when eating veal), but I'm an overly sensitive baby and the idea of eating this particular 70-year-old guy breaks my heart. I actually want to call the restaurant and ask if I can pay for the guy to be set free. He deserves better.

Lobsters bigger than 3 pounds are gross and should not be eaten. let them breed and make more little lobsters for us to eat.

Sentimentality aside, the meat just gets tough and bland after 2lbs. It's not like ordering a larger cut of beef. It's an older animal. Imagine eating a 70 year old cow. It would be like jerky. I totally agree with @Chowdahead. It's more work, but I much prefer to eat multiple young lobsters than one older one.

Also, one the eco-conscious side of things, if the state of Maine has a law about throwing back oversized lobsters, there must be something to that, as a considerable segment of Maine's economy rests on the lobster catch.

According to Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Woodshole, Massachusetts,
A 1-pound female lobster usually carries approximately 8000 eggs. A 9-pound female may carry more than 100,000 eggs... From every 50,000 eggs only 2 lobsters are expected to survive to legal size.
(http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/faq/fishfaq7.html)

Only two. I know George is a male, but this speaks to the fragility of the species. Anyway, I think he should be either thrown back or sent to an aquarium.

No.

There was a lobster about this huge (hard to tell from the Oceana picture with no scale reference), up as a raffle prize at the Atlantic Antic; he was offered, I think, by the Six Points stand, which sold various raw bar items. He was massive, his carapace about 20" not including his tail tucked under him, alive, on ice and on display to all gawkers.

Yes, I eat meat. Yes, I eat lobster. But this seems unsporting and decadent.

The creature has lived to a venerable age. S/He's beat the odds until the last, then s/he got snagged. Show some humanity (if that's not a contradiction in terms) and let him, or her, go.

Nope. No way. No cruelty to the elderly.

Gonna be hard to properly cook a lobster that large. It'll be undercooked on the inside, and overcooked on the outside.

Only way I would eat it would be sous-vide.

Mmmmmmm... sous-vide lobster...

Who says it's 70 years old, and how is that verified. I think this is a "big fish" story.

@Giertson: I'm with you on this sentiment: "So this means that really, what one is paying for is the novelty of this lobster's existence. It is so rare that getting to eat it would be a privilege. Not a culinary privilege, but an elitist privilege. Well I frankly have no sympathy for this notion on any level, and as a food lover I feel buying rarity/novelty, and not quality/value is unacceptable."

I would not. It seems disrespectful of the species, somehow.

Am struggling with the ethics of eating anything that isn't raised in as humane an environment as possible, too. Don't exactly have the money to eat only grass fed beef or humanely raised pork, so I'm just eating a lot less meat.

I don't get it. A lot of you say don't eat it because it has lived for so long, outsmarted trappers and so forth. However, you are quick to say you'll eat a little young one, therefore not giving the "baby" a chance at a long life. I say eat his old crusty butt and let the little guys and gals have a chance to get this big so we can have another feast. Sounds heartless I know, but to me it is the logical thing to do. At least letting the young ones grow will give them more opportunities to make more little ones. He maybe a bit tough, but with a bucket of butter I'd try to finish him off by myself.

This is pure marketing. I doubt anyone would want to eat it and I suspect if you actually tried to order it they'd refuse to serve it.

Get him a bigger tank and let that old boy watch Matlock.

of course! the theme could be "aged", with good wine and cheese :D

I'm writing to confess- I have such guilt!!!
I recently ate a 12 lbs lobster (said to be 80 years old).
We sat in the kitchen four over an hour debating to eat it (we won him in a raffle). We named him Dean.
Should we release him the Rockaways? Should we call NY1? Are we breaking a law? He is older then my Dad! He survived two world wars! This is not right.
But alas, we ate him. We decided he must have committed lobster suicide, after is much younger lobster girlfriend got caught in a trap.....life was no longer worth living
Not tough at all, but honestly not as flavorful as a smaller lobster. He was still very much enjoyed! We honored his live.
Now this story comes out and the guest at the dinner party feel ashamed.
Would I do it again? No I don't think so. Dean you will forever be in our hearts!!!

i went out on a lobster boat tour in nova scotia- it'a a way for the lobster guys to make some coin when regulations say they aren't allowed to fish.

Of course everybody asked what the biggest lobster they'd ever caught was. It was huge- something like 40 or 50lbs- but their assessment was the same as most people here: above like 3 or 4 lbs, lobsters tend to be tough. Those huge lobsters are all crazy old, and old animals don't make for tasty eats.

I used to work at a lobster house on Long Island during college, and we would get these gigantic archaic lobsters from our distributor all the time. The first couple of times it was a bit of a novelty, having a 70 year old lobster around, but after the 4th or 5th time, the cool factor wore off. Since it takes a lobster about 7 years to reach one pound, even if you eat a 3 pounder, you are dining on a crustacean that is 20 years old, or so.

Look, what if lobster aged like Bordeaux? That it got tenderer and sweeter and more complex as it aged? There would be no sympathy for this guy because of age. None. At. All.

Instead the restaurant would get $500 or a grand, or more, for it. And the lobsterman would get 20-40% of that.

The question of egg capacity would simply mean that only large male lobsters could be harvested, making them even more desirable. And probably an underground market in females would also develop. Can you imagine what they might go for?

This is just the nature of humans, and thus, the nature of markets. So if they're tough and not as sweet, we can anthropomorphize all we want, because we really don't think it'll taste all that good.