Lobster is one of the most popular foods in the world, and nearly $300 million worth of lobster is harvested in the United States each year.
Fortunately, there are rules about which lobsters can be kept for food and which must be released.
All of the lobsters on this list were much larger than the legal size limit and were thankfully released back into the wild.
Location: South Florida
Source: Newser
Larry was another large lobster that was saved from being eaten by well-meaning citizens.
This South Florida lobster weighed 15 pounds (6.8 kilograms) and ended up at Tin Fish Restaurant.
The founder and owner of the Tin Fish chain, Joe Melluso, estimated that Larry was about 105 years old, and the story made the news.
Amir Rossi saw the story and rallied his friends to work to free Larry.
They paid Melluso $300 for Larry and paid for Larry to be sent to Maine to be released.
Larry narrowly escaped death as he was supposed to be eaten by a group of customers.
The Tin Fish’s chef, Dennis Alvarez, treated customers to a 14-pound (6.35-kilogram) fish.
Lobster de l’Ossa Major
Location: Maine
Source: pressherald.com
In 2015, a photo of a fisherman holding a massive lobster posted on Facebook went viral.
The man, Ricky Louis Felice Jr., worked as a deckhand on the Big Dipper, a lobster boat based in Friendship, Maine.
The crew of the Big Dipper said the lobster was the largest they had ever seen and estimated it to be about 20 pounds (9.07 kilograms).
Because the lobster was much larger than Maine’s legal limit, the crew had to release the lobster.
Felice and the crew said they hope to run the lobster again one day.
According to Ossa Major Captain Isaac Lash, finding lobsters that exceed the legal size limit is not that uncommon.
Lash said, “I’ve seen lobsters as big or bigger than this.”
Location: Captured in Newfoundland, Canada; ended up at the restaurant in New York City
Source: NBC News
George is one of the most famous lobsters on this list because his story was featured in many international news publications.
However, George was shown for his age and not his size, weighing only about 20 pounds (9.07 kilograms).
According to PETA, which helped free George, and the City Crab and Seafood restaurant, George was believed to be 140 years old; George may have been the oldest lobster ever caught.
George was caught off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada and sold to the City Crab and Seafood restaurant.
It lived in the restaurant for 10 days before a customer reported the lobster to PETA, which begged the restaurant to release it.
Restaurant manager Keith Valenti said the restaurant never planned to sell the giant lobster to anyone to eat, it just wanted to draw attention.
George was released in a rocky cove in Kennebunkport, Maine, less than a mile from the summer home of former President George H.W. Bush.
Location: Hempstead, New York, USA
Source: New York Post
Unlike the other lobsters on this list, Louie the Lobster wasn’t necessarily a lucky find.
Instead, Louie had been living in captivity at a restaurant called Peter’s Clam Bar in Hempstead, New York for over 20 years.
Over the years, Louie had grown to his last known size of 22 pounds (9.98 kilograms)
Butch Yamali, the owner of Peter’s Clam Bar, decided to release Louie in 2017 after a customer came in on Father’s Day and tried to offer Yamali $1,000 to eat Louie.
Yamali decided to free Louie and even invited city officials to the ceremony.
Bob Bayer, executive director of the Maine Lobster Institute, assured the crowd that Louie would most likely survive in the wild despite being in captivity for so long because “There’s not a lot of predators that want to eat a big old lobster like this.”
Location: near Cushing, Maine, USA
Source: Reuters
A lobster named Rocky was caught off the coast of Maine in 2012 and was described as the size of a 3-year-old boy.
Rocky was caught in a shrimp net and taken to the Maine State Aquarium.
This child-sized lobster weighed 27 pounds (12.25 kilograms) and was over 40 inches (101.6 centimeters) long.
According to Elaine Jones, director of education for the state Department of Marine Resources, most of Rocky’s weight was on its claws, which she said “would break your arm.” Fortunately for Rocky, he was released back into the wild near the aquarium.
Rocky was given to the aquarium because Maine fishermen cannot keep lobsters that measure more than 5 inches (1.27 cm) from the eye to the beginning of the tail.
Guinness World Record Holder
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada
Source: Guinness World Records (Archived page)
According to Guinness World Records, the largest lobster caught (officially called the heaviest marine crustacean) weighed 44 pounds 6 ounces (20.14 kilograms).
The lobster was caught off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada in 1977.
Like most of the world’s largest lobsters, the Guinness World Record holder was an American/Atlantic lobster.
The Maine Department of Marine Resources estimates that this lobster could be about 100 years old.
The American lobster is the heaviest arthropod in the world, which is why there are so many entries on this list!
Maine’s largest lobster
Location: Maine, USA
Source: http://www.whoi.edu
Not much is known about this huge 51.5-pound (23.3-kilogram) lobster that was caught in Maine in 1926.
The only evidence that this is the largest lobster ever found comes from a picture on a blog that talks about some of the largest lobsters in the world.
In the photo, it looks like the lobster was quite large.
However, the lobster was damaged in transit and the image is the only proof that this large lobster ever existed.
According to the conventional wisdom that a lobster’s size is tied to its age, this lobster can be over 100 years old.