On an assembly line, a seafood sales manager from Cleveland packed live lobsters into boxes. Nearby, a British purchasing manager weighed lobsters. That morning, we handled lobster blood and innards. After watching lobstermen haul traps, we enjoyed a lunch of, you guessed it, lobster. This is Day 2 of the Lobster Academy.

Twice a year, East Coast Seafood Inc., a subsidiary of AHI (American Holdco, Inc.) holds the threeday Lobster Academy in Saint Andrews, N.B. AHI ranks 22 in the top 25 North American seafood companies.

“Our goal,” said Heidi Tourkistas of East Coast Seafood, “is to provide science and expertise in a noncompetitive environment.” Most of the 18 students are American seafood buyers; past alumni include buyers from Canada, France, Dubai, South Korea and the Netherlands. The first academy was held in 2009. East Coast now holds a Salmon Academy concurrent with the Lobster Academy.

“I’m here to get the story behind lobster,” said Doug Hordos, a seafood sales manager from Detroit. “You need to ‘tell the story’ when selling product.”

We learned about lobster from the inside out by watching dissections to hearing lectures on fishery management, lobster biology and the state of the industry. We didn’t, however, talk to any fishermen.

On Deer Island, we visited the world’s largest tidal lobster pound and processing plant of Paturel International, Inc. (AHI subsidiary). Amid the smell of lobster and chlorine, workers sampled lobster to measure blood protein levels, an indication of muscle strength and ability to withstand shipping. The highest quality lobster are exported to Asia, medium quality go to Canadian supermarkets and the lowest quality is processed immediately.

At 5pm each day, classes ended and the bar opened. Lobster appetizers were available before seafood dinners prepared by top chefs.

Andrew Vine, a British seafood buyer, found the academy “quite demystifying.” He added that he became “more informed about lobster quality.”

Now Hordos has new ideas of how to present lobster to his sales force in Detroit. “I already had the first three chapters,” he said, “but now I have the whole book.”

By Janet Wallace