John Knowles, a fifth-generation Maine fisherman, has become a social media star by posting a video of the 100-year-old lobster he just caught on TikTok. So far, more than 1.7 million people have seen it.
Knowles, a commercial fisherman from Winter Harbor, due east of Bar Harbor at the top of the Schoodic Peninsula, says he think the giant lobster is 100 years old, judged by its size, shell and claws. He says it’s quite possible that his father, grandfather, great-grandfather and even great-great grandfather could have caught the same lobster.
Knowles’ family fished in the same area for generations, and lobsters tend to migrate to the same area year after year.
The lobster was so big that it’s protected for breeding purposes, and Knowles had to throw it back. He says the lobster was probably over the size limit 50 years ago.
Most lobsters that we see in restaurants and lobster shacks are 5 to 7 years old and weigh one to two pounds. The Lobster Institute at the University of Maine says there’s no accurate way to tell exactly how old a lobster is, although they think some have grown to be 100 years old. The largest lobster they’ve seen was about 3.5 to 4 feet from tail to outstretched claw.
See Knowles’ video here:
