Business Notes SEAFOOD

Jet lag is hard enough on humans, but for Homarus americanus it can be deadly. As many as one-fourth of the Maine lobsters on flights to burgeoning markets in Asia die during the long trip, even though they travel in comfy insulated containers. A research team organized by the Lobster Institute at the University of Maine is considering an answer to the problem: a rest stop at a first-class lounge in Hawaii. If they were plunked into a so-called relay pound, the weary crustaceans could stretch their claws and absorb oxygen from Pacific seawater for a day or so before resuming their voyage.

Building a crustacean resort may be a worthwhile investment for seafood shippers, since lobster meat sells for as much as $40 a lb. in Japan and Taiwan. The large-scale tank, which could hold more than 1 million lbs. of live lobster, would contain seawater pumped from the ocean depths at a temperature of about 40 degrees F.