750 HISTOR? AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



Summation of the entire lobster industry in Maehias district in 1880. 



Total number of persons employed 375 



Total amount of capital invested $53,486 



Total value of the products as they entered into consumption $61,687 



FRENCHMAN'S BAY DISTRICT. 



In this district the lobster fishery is carried on principally from Stuben, Gouldsboro', Winter 

 Harbor, Sullivan, Lamoine, Mount Desert, and Bartlett's. Gott's, Cranberry, and Tinker's Islands. 

 At Gouldsboro' some lobster fishing is done during most of the year, but the principal fish- 

 ing season is from April 1 to August 1. Lobsters are said to be most abundant in May, June, 

 September, and October. The traps are set mainly in depths of 4 to 10 fathoms, but sometimes as 

 deep as 30 fathoms, on both rocky and sandy bottoms. The boats used by the fishermen are the 

 so-called " reach boats " and dories, the former measuring about 15 feet long by 4 feet broad, 

 and costing about $20 each. There are about seventy-eight lobstermen in this place, a portion of 

 whom go singly in their boats and others in pairs, and they set on an average sixty pots each. 

 The greater part of the catch is sold to the canneries, the remainder being taken by the well 

 smacks or consumed locally. The prices paid for lobsters range from 80 cents to $1.20 per 100 

 pounds. Sculpins, flounders, herring and fish heads are employed as bait. About one-half of the 

 bait used by the Gouldsboro' lobstermen in 1880 consisted of fish heads, obtained from the boat 

 fishermen, many of whom dress their catch on shore. Two-thirds of the lobster fishermen of 

 Gouldsboro' follow boat fishing after July, and the remainder engage in coasting, farming, mining, 

 &c. About 13,000 lobsters were sold for local consumption in and about Gouldsboro' in 1880. 

 The average stock, with fifty pots, in that year was $80, and the best stock, with one hundred pots, 

 was $200. The largest catch for one day by a single fisherman was 850 pounds, live weight, and 

 the average daily catch about 200 pounds. The lobsters average in weight 1J pounds each. 



About eleven men at Winter Harbor and vicinity fish for lobsters in the canning season, 

 selling to the South Gouldsboro' cannery. All of these men also fish for cod and hake at the 

 same time, hauling their pots in the morning and going out line fishing the same day. They set 

 about thirty pots each, and make an average daily catch of about 75 lobsters. 



At Sullivan seven men engage in lobstering during about three months, from April to August, 

 setting on an average about sixty pots each, and selling principally to the Gouldsboro' cannery. 

 Some lobsters are also sold to the Southwest Harbor cannery, and in 1880 about 1,200 pounds 

 were used locally. One man sets his pots during three months in the fall and winter, selling 

 his catch to the country trade. About an equal quantity each of herring, flounders, and scnlpins, 

 was used as bait. The average season's stock per man was about $105. At the close of the lob- 

 ster season most of the men stop fishing and obtain work on land. There are nine lobstermen 

 fishing from Lamoine. 



At Mount Desert and Bartlett's, Gott's, and Cranberry Islands seventy-seven men engage in 

 the lobster fishery from April 1 to August 1, using on an average ninety pots each. Fish heads 

 constitute about one-half of the bait used, the remainder consisting of sculpins, flounders, and her- 

 ring. In some cases the lobster fishermen assist the boat fishermen to dress their catch, taking 

 the heads as payment. In 1880, 45,500 lobsters by count were sold for local consumption. Three 

 well smacks visit this region during the summer and carry away fully one-half the catch to 

 western markets. 



The lobster fishery of Tinker's Island is participated in by five men, who set about one hun- 

 dred pots each, and make an average season's stock of $125. 



