For restaurant dates, people of the North Atlantic used them for fertilizer and they were later considered food of poverty and served to children, servants, and prisoners. In the early 19th century though, the booming populations of Boston and New York realized that the succulent, sweet flesh of the lobster was a delicacy, and it quickly became a top-of-the-menu item. As the demand increased, fishing fleets in New England and the Canadian maritime provinces built up around harvesting the delicious arthropods. Lobsters are decapod crustaceans with ten legs and two claws, one for crushing and the other for grasping. They live on rocky bottoms and are scavengers rather than hunters, feeding on carrion, clams, snails, mussels, worms, sea urchins, and even other lobsters. The lobster fisheries are now controlled by state and federal regulations which limit sizes and seasons. In 2002, American lobster landings were 82.3 million pounds, with a value of $293.3 million. Maine and Massachusetts are the major producers.