Loading and Unloading Shellfish in the Lobster Pod: Best Practice Guide
Efficient, stress-free handling is vital when storing live shellfish—especially for premium products like lobster, crab, and langoustine. The Lobster Pod shellfish holding system has been designed to make this process simpler, safer, and more organised. In this guide, we’ll walk through the practical steps for loading and unloading your Lobster Pod, and share tips on how to manage your stock effectively.
Daily Checks First
When the Lobster Pod is running, your first priority should always be your stock. During daily checks, it’s important to look into every tray. Most trays are easy to view directly, but for higher levels, a small step may be helpful.
Lobsters that are stressed or unwell often flip onto their backs, making it easy to spot the white underside of their claws—so you can quickly identify any potential problems. If all appears well, you’re good to move on to loading or unloading.
Draining the Stack
To remove a tray or reconfigure your stock:
- Switch off the pump—and don’t forget to turn off the UV system too. The UV should never run dry.
- Drain the stack by tilting the manifold forward. The small holes in the top of the manifold prevent accidental siphoning, and turning the siphon break covers allows water to drain cleanly from one box into the one below.
- Wait 10–15 minutes to allow the system to fully drain before removing trays.
The manifolds also control the water level in each tray, so if needed, boxes can be run half-full temporarily.
Adding and Managing Stock
Once trays are drained, you can add new shellfish or inspect your existing stock more closely. The design of the Lobster Pod makes it an ideal system for grading and rotating live shellfish, offering far more control than a traditional open tank.
You can use the trays to:
- Grade by supplier – Keep track of different boats or fishermen.
- Organise by customer – Store sizes or species tailored to customer needs.
- Separate by species – Use trays for lobster, crab, or langoustine individually.
Trays can be labelled with marker or tagged with labels to keep things organised.
Stock Rotation and Traceability
The Lobster Pod also supports better business management. Its modular tray system allows you to implement first-in, first-out rotation, giving you greater control over when stock is sold. This is especially useful if you’re storing premium lobster for seasonal markets like Christmas.
By keeping track of the date stock was added, you not only optimise product freshness—you also enable full traceability, which is increasingly important to both customers and regulators.
