27-pound lobster: Rocky looks like he could pack a punch

A 27-pound lobster? Robert Malone went fishing for shrimp and pulled in a surprise: a 27-pound Maine lobster that could never be viewed as shrimpy.

The critter, caught in the vicinity of Rockland, Maine, was dubbed Rocky, reports the Associated Press. Of course, the size of the lobster’s fearsome claws also bring to mind the meaty fists of that boxer named Balboa.

Malone opted to donate the nearly 40-inch-long crustacean to the Maine State Aquarium in Boothbay Harbor, the AP says. That’s pretty magnanimous -- depending on how you look at it.

Lobster prices aren’t what they once were, having fallen along with the economy around 2008, Reuters reports. But they were above $3.30 a pound in 2010, and the Maine lobster industry is bubbling over what looks to be a record haul in 2011, the new site says.

And, as the AP reported last year, the harvest in 2010 was one to exclaim over, with 93.4 million pounds valued at $308 million.

By the pound, Rocky should be a valuable lobster. But this crustacean’s size could indicate a long life. And geezer lobsters don’t make great eating.

Times Food Editor Russ Parsons on Thursday said he would avoid making dinner out of Rocky.

“The generally accepted wisdom on lobsters is that any time you get above, say, 3 pounds, bigger is certainly not better,” Parsons said. “These are old beasts and they tend to be tough. An aquarium is almost certainly its highest and best use. Preferably a very large aquarium.”

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