Traps Arrive and Lobster Season Begins Next Week

Stacks of traps are piling up in the Santa Barbara harbor near the boat launch docks.

Lobster season is set to begin next week. Traps will go into the water later this week. The official date to begin bringing up traps and start bringing in lobsters is October 7. The season goes into March.

Each trap is marked and the floats are marked uniquely.

“Yeah everyone paints their float a different color so you can recognize it in the water and there is a number stamped on everyone of these to say who we are if the Fish and Game were to check our trap to see that it is legal,” said Terry Frasen, a local lobster fisherman.

He says he has favorite spots from shallow water to 200 feet deep.

Frasen says fresh mackerel is the best bait. It’s placed in a special slot on the trap.

The traps are checked every 96 hours.

The lobsters will be mainly sold to China where the demand and the price is very strong.