The fishing boat, All My Sons in Staithes harbour
The rocky shoreline form Staithes to Spurn Point provides some of the best Yorkshire lobster and brown crab in the world.
It’s fished by a small fleet of self-employed fishermen who are out every day throughout the spring and summer in small boats checking their pots identified by coloured flags bobbing in the water that reach down to depths of up to 190 feet.
It’s hard graft winching them all up – some fishermen own hundreds – checking them for size and throwing back any that are too small. They put elastic bands round the vicious claws, re-bait the pots and drop them back again for another day.
Fisherman Sean Baxter checking his pots from the shore
For the fishermen, crab and lobster are a valuable crop though they get nothing like the amount charged by restaurants in Europe where Yorkshire shellfish often ends up.
Yorkshire east coast crab, lobster and langoustines are still so highly regarded that Spanish vivier trucks transport them live across the continent as prizes for the markets and restaurants of Madrid.
Given that the Yorkshire coast is so rich in seafood, fresh local lobster is surprisingly tricky to find on a menu. ‘Too expensive’ say the chefs, who can’t risk being left with any uneaten lobsters if there are no takers.
Whitby’s famous Magpie Cafe
You can find lobster thermidor at the Magpie Cafe or at Greens, bothin Whitby, But is there anything sweeter than the prime brown crab or North Sea lobster that you’ve cooked yourself? You can buy both, cooked or live from the Magpie’s wet fish shop the Whitby Catch or from Whitby Seafish in Staithes. Best between April and December
Twelve minutes in a pan of sea water or well-salted tap water and served with mayonnaise, home made if possible, but Hellmanns will do, and some crusty bread – heaven on a plate and at a fraction of the restaurant price.