We purchase accidentally caught lobsters directly from commercial inshore day-boat potters at market rates, mark them with a statutory conservation V-notch—making it strictly illegal for any vessel to land or sell them ever again—and return them safely to their native reef.
Conservation shouldn't demand that small coastal fishermen sacrifice their livelihoods. By compensating skippers directly, we turn commercial boats into active reef guardians.
Local day-boat fishermen rely on every landed kilo. We buy breeding hens and accidental catches at current commercial market value so fishers lose nothing by returning them.
Before release, a tiny painless notch is placed on the tail flipper. Under statutory fisheries orders, it is strictly illegal for any vessel to land, transport, or sell a V-notched lobster.
A single mature hen can release up to 20,000 viable larvae per breeding cycle. Taking mature individuals out of the human food chain replenishes marine biodiversity for years.
The V-notch programme is an established fisheries conservation tool regulated under the UK Lobster and Crawfish Order. A clean 8mm triangular notch is applied to the uropod using gauge punches.
Standard 8mm Uropod Notch
Statutory protection recognized by the Inshore Fisheries & Conservation Authorities (IFCA)
Choose a name for your lobster and watch your official Freedom Deed generate in real time.
Protected under statutory fisheries V-notch by-laws. Granted perpetual immunity from harvest and returned to native UK reefs.
Dedicated Sponsor: Ocean Guardian
Status: Notched & Released at Sea
Verification: GPS Plotter Video Logged
Every sponsored lobster is catalogued live directly from our coastal releases via Instagram.
No. The outer tail flippers (uropods) are made of hardened chitin with no central nervous system pathways or blood vessels. The lobster exhibits no lasting reaction.
UK fisheries enforcement officers conduct spot checks at landing quays and fish markets. Possessing a V-notched lobster brings heavy statutory fines and loss of commercial permits.
While well-intentioned, supermarket or restaurant lobsters may carry overseas pathogens or belong to non-native species (such as American lobsters). Releasing them risks catastrophic disease transfer. Buying healthy local day-boat catch directly at sea remains the gold standard.