LOBSTER TALE: Fishermen in Orange County are...

LOBSTER TALE: Fishermen in Orange County are hoping for a better harvest of California spiny lobsters when the five-month commercial season opens Wednesday. . . . The local haul has declined steadily since 1989 to 42,215 pounds last year, fish and game officials say. But traders say smaller catches are not due to lack of effort. . . . Numbers of fishermen and lobster traps have multiplied twentyfold, says Jon Mansur, a lobster dealer in Dana Point. “Probably the little critters are finding more hiding places.”

Lobster Low

Lobster catches in Orange County for last five years (in pounds):

1991: 42,215

Source: California Department of Fish and Game