Bright & Colorful Symbolic Genealogy

Lobster Buoy Stories

Lobster Buoy Stories 01Lobster buoys of various lobster vessels on display in Old Harbor, Block Island, Rhode Island

Lobster buoys are important in lobster fishing. They mark the place a fisherman has set a trap and come attached by a line or rope to a triple, pair or single group of lobster traps on the ocean’s bottom. Having patterns and colors unique to a person on the buoys is important, which is the signal appearing on a boat that allows a Department of Environmental Management (here in Rhode Island) officer or crew and anyone else to identify the owner of the buoys. This lowers the chances of theft. Sometimes, a buoy color pattern will be handed down from one generation to another within a fishing family. 

When seen hanging as they are here on Block Island, they also tell the stories and histories of lobstering families. 

Lobster Buoy Stories 01Lobster buoys of various lobster vessels on display in Old Harbor, Block Island, Rhode Island Lobster Buoy Stories 02Lobster buoys of various lobster vessels on display in Old Harbor, Block Island, Rhode Island Lobster Buoy Stories 03Lobster buoys of various lobster vessels on display in Old Harbor, Block Island, Rhode Island

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