HOW TO STORE YOUR LIVE LOBSTERS

Assumption: You don't have a large tank with circulating saltwater that is refrigerated at 2 degrees centigrade.

Keep Them Cool
The ideal temperature for lobster storage is 2 to 4 degrees centigrade (34 to 36 F). An ideal places for storage is the crisper in your refrigerator. If you do not have space in your refrigerator, keep them in an insulated container such as a picnic cooler with re-useable ice pack on top of the lobsters. This keeps them cooler since cold air is heavier than warmer air. If you do not have re-useable ice pack, put ice cubes in a thick plastic bag on top to the lobsters. Store the container in the coolest part of your home (i.e. garage or basement).

Keep them damp
Ideally, a damp cloth/newspaper soaked in seawater placed over the lobsters will keep them damp. However, be careful not to put too much weight on the lobsters.

Do not put them in fresh water
Lobsters are saltwater creatures and have the same salinity as the sea. Contact with fresh water causes the salt to draw out of the lobster, which will eventually lead to its premature death. Only refrigerated circulating saltwater is appropriate for storage.

Do not touch them or play with them
Lobsters survive out of water because they are cold-blooded creatures that reduce their metabolic rate at low temperatures. They keep sufficient oxygen in their body to survive long periods out of water. Every time a lobster is handled, it decreases their survival time out of water because it depletes the stored oxygen.

Factoid: Lobsters that are properly shipped and stored at the right temperature can last up to a week out of water. Lobsters exposed to heat will perish quickly. For example, a lobster exposed to 27 degrees centigrade temperature (80 degrees F) will not survive much more than an hour.