Why don’t residents of the Cook Islands eat lobster?

In the South Pacific, there is an island country like this: the ratio of the country’s sea area to land area is 1:7500, and each person can own an average of 100 square kilometers of sea area. The extent of seafood flooding in this country is so staggering that local people have such a eating habit: they only eat beautiful large bone fish with few bones, and do not eat other fish; shrimps and crabs, such as our Chinese They don't eat their favorite shrimps, lobsters and coconut crabs; they even don't take it seriously if they accidentally step on the sea cucumbers that can be seen everywhere.

This place is the Cook Islands, located in the central region of Australia and Peru. The land here is sparsely populated, and even the nearest Fiji and French Polynesia are three hours' flight away. Even when someone who knows that place introduces this country to you, the most common thing you hear is complaints. As early as 1992, the Cook Islands gained diplomatic independence and could establish an independent country, but it was not independent. It is precisely because of this that the Cook Islands still enjoy New Zealand’s special tax exemption and defense rights.

In the 3rd century AD, the Maori moved from Tahiti to the Cook Islands. After relocating, their clothes, festivals and living habits gradually adapted to those here. To outsiders, the Maori at that time were almost no different from the local aborigines. The current total land area of ??the Cook Islands is 236 square kilometers, consisting of 15 islands, each distributed in a sea area of ??1.8 million square kilometers. If the economic zone is added, the sea area will be 2.2 million square kilometers. The population here is less than 18,000, so it is not surprising that the average ocean area per person is 100 square kilometers.

In 2017, the per capita GDP here reached 20,000 US dollars, but the actual income was less than 5,000 US dollars. Therefore, the Cook Islands mainly relies on financial assistance from foreign countries, and China is one of them. It is precisely because China has assisted them in building schools, adding living facilities and bridges that the Cook Islands has implemented a unilateral visa exemption for Chinese tourists traveling here. The local residents are also extremely friendly to Chinese tourists. After passing the customs, there were many people who smiled throughout the process, asked for photos, and even wanted to exchange currency for souvenirs.

The Cook Islands has marine tourism resources that are unmatched by any country in the world. Because this is a volcanic terrain, there are a large number of natural lagoons. These lakes are close to the islands here, and many places can reach the other shore directly. The rare natural advantages allow a large number of tourists to come here every year. The number of tourists in the Cook Islands has increased by more than 400,000 in seven years, and many of them are wealthy tourists.

The variety of fish here is unbelievable. Every household can see a large school of fish just by opening the door. They only caught the fish they liked to eat, and many of the fish with spines were thrown back into the sea. Some high-end seafood, such as lobsters, are disliked by local residents because they don't like to shell them.

Although tourists here like to go to Rarotonga, there are still a lot of lobsters on the island. In Penryn or Manisia Island, the huge size of lobsters and conches will scare tourists away, but there are still many New Zealand tourists who bring very professional equipment to catch them. If you want to eat the seafood there, you only need to pay S$150 for the boat rental fee, which will allow you to eat for the whole day.

In fact, the consumption level here is not low at all. Hotel accommodation basically costs more than 600 yuan. And the hotels here all provide private kitchens. It is precisely because of this that many restaurants cannot continue to operate, and many holiday wooden houses on all beaches are idle, and tourists can also try out the kayaks and yachts inside for free.