How Big Was the Largest Lobster Ever Recorded?

By Staff WriterLast Updated December 09, 2023

The biggest recorded lobster ever caught weighed 44 pounds, 6 ounces and was caught in 1977. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, it was taken from the waters off the coast of Nova Scotia, and it measured 3 feet 5 inches from the tip of its largest claw to the end of its tail fan.

A 27-pound lobster caught off the coast of Maine made news in 2012. A spokeswoman from Maine’s Department of Marine Resources described its claws as being big enough to break a human arm.

Many areas have laws that forbid fisherman from keeping lobsters that are very large. In Maine, lobsters that are larger than 5 inches from the eye to the beginning of the tail must be released back into the wild.