Thursday, August 13, 2009

No homegrown seafood for this Nevada

Bob and Pam Eddy have fought to make a go of it selling live 'desert lobsters,' or Australian red claw crayfish. But wildlife officials have made the state even less hospitable to the crustaceans.

Here in Mina -- population about 200 -- Bob and Pam Eddy have pursued an improbable dream. For about 14 years, they've tried to bring seafood, or their version of it, to this remote patch of desert. They've sparred with the state, pleaded with lawmakers and become heroes to sagebrush rebels over their "desert lobsters."

Trying to make the most of his location, Bob had been raising thousands of desert lobsters -- actually Australian red claw crayfish, which can weigh more than a pound -- mainly in a greenhouse just south of Mina. His 10 tanks (8 feet wide, 22 feet long, 3 feet deep) were partly buried to keep the water from dipping below 80 degrees.

On a sweltering morning in 2003, after months of warnings, authorities stormed the greenhouse with a court order and chlorine bleach. Some wore bulletproof vests and carried guns.

"They poisoned them and hauled a bunch off and dumped them out in the desert," Bob says. He had as much as 300 pounds of crayfish at the time.

Nevada: Liquor, Gambling and Prostitution Legal 24 HR but Lobsters are NOT LEGAL!

Read the full article at the Los Angles Times by Ashley Powers

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