Crawfish

What the Bahamas calls crawfish is the Caribbean spiny lobster, a clawless species taken from the shallow banks, and it is by a wide margin the country's most valuable marine export, with the fishery centred on Andros, the Berry Islands and Spanish Wells. The season runs from the first of August to the thirty-first of March and is enforced. Locally it is eaten cracked, meaning battered and fried like conch, curried with peas and rice, minced into a salad, or grilled with butter. Spanish Wells built its prosperity on it. The fishery uses casitas, artificial shelters laid on the sea floor, which lobsters gather under.

What you'll find

• Cracked crawfish - battered and fried, the local preparation.
• Curried crawfish - with peas and rice, the family island version.
• The casita fishery - artificial shelters used to gather the catch.
• Spanish Wells - the island whose fleet lands much of the national catch.

When to go

The season runs from August to the end of March and lobster should not appear on any menu from April to July; if it does, something is wrong. Prices are lowest early in the season. Fish fries and family island restaurants do it best.

Practical notes

The closed season from April to July exists to let the population breed and it is enforced; do not order lobster in those months, and be wary of anywhere serving it. Undersized lobster is also illegal. Prices are high and usually by weight, so agree before ordering. Stocks are under pressure from fishing effort across the region.

Nearby

Spanish Wells, Andros and the Berry Islands are the fishery centres.