I think the reasons for not taking them in soft shell is to give them a chance, when soft they generally come out and sit around in the light to harden up the shells which can make them easy to get. You can almost tell if they are soft just by where they are sitting. Another reason could be, as you say, because of the damage caused, but if you are gathering them to eat, and i cant think of any other reason for taking them, then does it matter if they are damaged? So I'm not sure if it is because they will be easily damaged, sometimes you don't know if they are soft until you grab them anyway, which by then the damage, if any, would have been done.

As far as eating them goes, a soft shell wont change the meat in them so go for it. 

FWIW - MFish regulation extract below - you can take crays soft when pre-moult - learnt this when a 5kg one was acquired on the boat and was in the pre-moult phase - very easy to identify this phase - all good to take and tasted just fine (apologise for the bold - can't get it to go away in this post)

http://www.fish.govt.nz/en-nz/Recreational/Most+Popular+Species/Rock+Lobster/Soft+Shell.htm - http://www.fish.govt.nz/en-nz/Recreational/Most+Popular+Species/Rock+Lobster/Soft+Shell.htm

Soft Shell

The SOFT shell is “post” moult, ( ie) when the rock lobster sheds the old shell and the immediate stage after that the shell is soft/rubber like. Over a period of time the shell hardens up. The definition of soft shell stage from the Amateur Fishing regulations is the “state of a rock lobster following moulting where the exoskeleton has not reached full hardness.

Pre Moult the shell is still the “original” and will not be considered soft although there can be a slight softening of the original shell.

Most Rock Lobsters don’t “pot” during this time but obviously are available to divers.

Immediately before “pre moult” and at “post moult” the rock lobster flesh is a pink colour and tends to be a bit “mushy after cooking.

As the shell starts to harden up there is a transition stage which may require some reasonable interpretation of when the rock lobster has reached “full hardness”

A good rule is that if the Rock Lobster ( Cray) feels in anyway soft and it is NOT pre moult then it should NOT be taken.

Cigar wrote: Raging Bull wrote: Well there you go, you learn something new every day. So why can't you take them when they are soft? Why are they so easy to get when they are soft? I think your second question is the answer to the first - i.e you can't take them when they are soft because they are so easy to get.

True that, thats what i thought and i thought they were easy to get because they came up into the shallows to get the light to help harden the shells. But i cant find anything to confirm that theory. So i am now curious as to why they would come into the shallows and make themselves vulnerable. 

The only thing i have come up with is that they are naturally lethargic after molting which would make the law against taking them when they are soft seem reasonable, in order to give them a chance. So perhaps that is the answer to the question of why you cant take them, or why someone decided that is the "law"! 

But i cant find any reason for them coming into the shallows to molt. As mentioned, i was under the impression that it was to get the sun/light on their shells to help harden them but other than someone telling me that that is the case  can not find any info on the Internet to support that theory.

So last question, if anyone knows or gives a shet, any ideas why they come in to the shallows to molt? 

Chur

[/QUOTE]

True that, thats what i thought and i thought they were easy to get because they came up into the shallows to get the light to help harden the shells. But i cant find anything to confirm that theory. So i am now curious as to why they would come into the shallows and make themselves vulnerable. 

The only thing i have come up with is that they are naturally lethargic after molting which would make the law against taking them when they are soft seem reasonable, in order to give them a chance. So perhaps that is the answer to the question of why you cant take them, or why someone decided that is the "law"! 

But i cant find any reason for them coming into the shallows to molt. As mentioned, i was under the impression that it was to get the sun/light on their shells to help harden them but other than someone telling me that that is the case  can not find any info on the Internet to support that theory.

So last question, if anyone knows or gives a shet, any ideas why they come in to the shallows to molt? 

Chur

need not be “soft” for mating to occur, a few hours to about five weeks after the 

female moult.  Mating can take as little as 90 seconds, and egg laying occurs 

immediately afterwards.  Fertilisation is external, by way of a spermatophoric mass 

deposited on the sternum of the female. 

20. Most mature J. edwardsii females moult and mate some time between February and 

May.  Females carrying eggs occur in greatest numbers from April to October, 

though a few are found during any month of the year.  Females bear eggs only once 

each year and most mature females carry eggs during the egg-bearing season.  

Successful reproduction requires mature male and female lobsters of similar size".