Kona Cold Lobsters-Located at NELHA
I had a great opportunity to visit Kona Cold Lobsters with a friend who is a seasoned chef. Chef Paul and I took a quick tour of KCL, which is one of his local suppliers, located at the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority (NELHA) near the Kona Keahole Airport. NELHA’s unique location and its deep seawater resource have attracted numerous aquaculture companies, including Big Island Abalone, Royal Hawaiian Seafarms, Kona Blue Water Farms and Troutlodge Marine Farms.
Kona Cold’s marine lobsters are fished using traps in the North Atlantic ocean off the coasts of Canada and the USA and carefully inspected. As each lobster is removed from the trap, the length is gauged and the tail is inspected for eggs. Small and extra large lobsters as well as egg bearing females are returned to the sea. This eco-friendly capture methodology has assured sustainability for an 80 million pound annual fishery. The selected, U.S., live lobsters are air shipped packed in dry, gel refrigerant for a 36 hour, out of water, flight to Kona’s...
