the raw material - Hafnarnes VER hf.

Nephrops norvegicus (Linnaeus, 1758)

The Norwegian Lobster is spread far from northern Norway, south the coasts of western Europe and down the Mediterranean to Greece.  By Iceland the Lobster only exists in the warm sea from Hornafjord west to Faxaflói. It’s mainly found in depth of 20 – 500m, here it’s found at the depth of 110-300m, the deepest he’s been found is 800m depth west of Sicily.

The Lobster grows in periods with shell change; the lobster sheds his shell and grows another one that’s bigger than the previous one. After he’s reached puberty the male grows much faster than the female since the female can’t shed their shell whilst they carry the eggs beneath the tail between fertilizing and hatching which takes 12 months around Iceland.  Common average size of the male is 14 cm (around 8 years old) but the female is 11 cm.  the biggest male and female can reach up to 26 cm and 18 cm of length.

The lobster digs a tunnel that reach about 20-30 cm down into the clay bottom. Usually there are two or three exits on the tunnels but sometimes there are many tunnels connected together and form a complex tunnel system. The lobster leaves the tunnels when searching for food but the hypothesis is that the lobster stays in the same area most of his life.

The lobsters food consists of small bottom animals of various kinds. Crabs, worms, shells and the fish waist that the ships throw away. Lobster has been found in the stomach of various fishes but is mostly eaten by Cod in Iceland.