The life of a Maine lobster is mostly a matter of crawling around on muddy continental shelf seafloors, not far from a coastline. Benthic scavenging is periodically interrupted by molting and ecdysis.1,2 But Maine lobsters recently made international news as the subject of a presidential action issued from the White House.3
Specifically, President Trump began this summer with an executive action titled “Memorandum on Protecting the United States Lobster Industry,” officially addressed to the Secretary of Agriculture, Secretary of Commerce, and the U.S. Trade Representative.3
Most of the executive action concerns international trade between China and America, including negotiated terms and conditions involving reciprocal tariffs and non-tariff trade barriers.3
However, one part of the memorandum specifically summarized the importance of Maine lobsters to America’s seafood industry.
How is it that lobsters excel in America’s seafood industry to be recognized as a “crown jewel in America’s seafood industry”? How is their value measured when harvested? The commercial value of a boat’s “haul” (harvest) is its “landing” value—what the catch sells for when it is delivered to shore and sold.4
Lobster drove the value of Maine’s overall commercial marine landings to $673.9 million in 2019, a $26 million increase over 2018 and the second highest valued landings of all time. Lobster has been the most valuable marine fishery in the U.S. since 2015, according to National Marine Fisheries Service.4
Although, commercially speaking, lobster is “king” in Maine, don’t think that other seafood isn’t also big business there.
Meanwhile, the lobster’s true mettle is much more than its commercial value. The lobster demonstrates God’s bioengineering genius in many ways.5
Besides lobster shell replacement via moulting and ecdysis,2 consider the wonder of lobster eyesight.
The square arrangement [of lobster eye ommaditia] is crucial, because only with the reflectors at right angles can it form an image from light rays from any direction. Also, only if the tubes are about twice as long as they are wide can they reflect most light rays off exactly two mirrors. Concentrating light from a relatively wide area is useful when it’s quite dark, but in bright light the lobster’s eye moves opaque pigment to block all light rays to the retina other than those parallel to the tubes. Not only does the lobster eye have all the earmarks of being designed by a master designer, it has also inspired human designers. Astronomers had wanted a telescope that could focus X-rays from certain heavenly bodies, but there was no practical lens that would focus X-rays. An ordinary concave mirror wouldn’t work, because X-rays would just go through—they reflect only at glancing angles. But Roger Angel of the University of Arizona pointed out that this problem ‘might be overcome by copying the design of crustacean eyes.’ The Lobster Eye, launched by a satellite, should enable astronomers ‘to observe a quarter of the sky at any one time.’7
For another example, lobster navigation activities can be astonishing.
Obviously, God designed and constructed these lobsters to “fill” muddy seafloor habitats where magnetic navigation abilities compensate for situations when lobster eyesight is hampered by underwater turbidity.
So much more could be said about how God made lobster bodies and behaviors, showing how they illustrate what the psalmist referred to in Psalm 104:24, “the works of the LORD … His wonders in the deep.”1,2,5
Meanwhile, lobsters are valuable to America’s seafood industry—a “crown jewel” (to quote President Trump). So they are worth protecting for that reason. However, they are even more valuable—especially to Christians—as doxological decapods of the deep.
Why? Because lobsters display God’s glory as the marvelous Creator He is, exhibiting His brilliant bioengineering and providential care—even for benthic crustaceans. Yes, even for humble “mud-bugs” of Maine.2,5-8
References
1. In the food industry, and popular culture, the iconic clawed lobsters are the American lobster (Homarus americanus) and European lobster (Homarus gammarus). The “other” category of commercially valuable lobster is the Norwegian lobster (Nephrops norvegicus, a.k.a “Dublin Bay prawn”), which is described as a lobster-like shrimp or a shrimp-like lobster. Unsurprisingly, based on taste experiments in Oban, Scotland, the Norwegian lobster is reported as tasting “like a blend of shrimp and lobster.” Johnson, J. J. S. 2019. Norwegian Wildlife, from Coastal Seawaters to Boreal Montane Forests: Illustrating Psalm 104 with Norwegian lobsters [Nephrops norvegicus], Cod, Caribou, Ørns, Orcas, and More.” Nordic Legacy Series. Norwegian Society of Texas, Fort Worth, Texas, March 24, 2019.
2. For the big-picture regarding lobster life, see Corson, T. 2005. The Secret Life of Lobsters: How Fishermen and Scientists Are Unraveling the Mysteries of Our Favorite Crustacean. New York: Harper Perennial, 62-63. Regarding the precarious yet providential process of moulting and ecdysis, see Johnson, J. J. S. 2018. Lobsters Get Comfortable in Their New Skin. Acts & Facts. 47(9). See also Ayali, A. 2009. The Role of the Arthropod Stomatogastric Nervous System in Moulting Behaviour and Ecdysis. Journal of Experimental Biology. 212: 453-459. Regarding their marine (continental shelf) biome habitat, see Johnson, J. J. S. 1995. Creationist Ecology: From Tundra to Rainforest. Dallas, TX: NWQD Press / Dallas Christian College, 188-192, especially footnotes 650 and 651 on page 188.
3. President of the United States of America. 2020. Memorandum on Protecting the U.S. Lobster Industry. The White House. Posted on whitehouse.gov June 24, 2020, accessed June 30, 2020. The executive action recites and implements a combination of laws, including 19 U.S.C. § 2411, 19 U.S.C. § 1332(g), with § 5-301 of Executive Order 12661, 12-27-AD1988 (Implementing the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988, etc.)—as well as the Economic and Trade Agreement between the USA and China (a.k.a “Phase One Agreement”).
4. Overton, P. 2020. Though Maine’s Lobster Harvest was Smallest in 9 Years, Value Remained Steady. Press Herald. Posted on pressherald.com March 6, 2020, accessed June 30, 3030. National Marine Fisheries Service is part of the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which in turn is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce.
5. Psalm 104:25. Showcasing Christ’s glory as Creator, as well as refuting evolutionary notions, are 2 of the 4 major benefits of Biblical creation apologetics. See Johnson, J. J. S. 2017. Polar Bears, Fitted to Fill and Flourish. Acts & Facts. 46(8): 21.
6. Thomas, B. 2013. Amazing Animal Eyes. Acts & Facts. 42(9): 16.
7. Sarfati, J. 2001. Lobster Eyes—Brilliant Geometric Design. Creation. 23(3): 12-13.
8. Thomas, B. 2009. Robot Navigation Copies Spiny Lobsters. Creation Science Update. Posted on ICR.org September 11, 2009, accessed June 30, 2020. Regarding the benthic habitat and lifestyle activities of lobsters, see Amos, S. A. 1990. Familiar Seashore Creatures. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, pages 116-121. See also Cerullo, M. M. 1994. Lobsters, Gangsters of the Sea. New York, NY: Cobblehill Books, pages 9-14.
*Dr. Johnson is Associate Professor of Apologetics and Chief Academic Officer at the Institute for Creation Research.
