Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1024592
107 THE LOBSTER SPA MORTILLARO LOBSTER IN GLOUCESTER PAMPERS ITS BELOVED CRUSTACEANS BEFORE SENDING THEM TO DESTINATIONS AROUND THE WORLD. B Y L O R N E B E L L I T B E G I N S W I T H F R E S H ocean water, drawn from the churning tides off Gloucester's coast. "e ocean's salinity is already perfect," says Gino Mortillaro, general manager at Gloucester's Mortillaro Lobster Inc. "People that have a problem with salinity are land- locked or make their own water and add salt. Our salinity is on the money." It's also only part of an elaborate science that makes Mortillaro a renowned lobster wholesaler. e water that fills the com- pany's massive tanks passes through natural dolomite stone mined in upstate New York and Canada. e jagged rocks remove envi- ronmental pollutants, but they also foster beneficial bacteria that eat harmful ammonia byproducts. Every hour, 80,000 gallons cycles through the organic filters. "We're totally green," boasts Vince Mortil- laro, Gino's brother, who took over the busi- ness from his father as a teenager. "We had a flounder swimming in our tanks since he was a baby, and he was in there for 13 years. We've got sea worms growing out of our filter beds." "If there wasn't any salt in it," adds Gino, "you could drink the water." ere'd be plenty to drink, too. Mortil- laro's three tanks hold a combined 175,000 The lobster is sorted and packaged fresh before being shipped around the world. PHOTOGRAPH BY ELONA HART/SHUTTERSTOCK