THE LOBSTER FISHERY. 757 



one and a half to two lobsters. He considers 400 pounds a large daily catch for one man; but 

 twenty years ago, with the same amount of gear, be could obtain as many as 1,500 pounds a day. 



The fall catch of lobsters is sold almost entirely to Portland, Boston, and New York smacks. 

 During the canning season the larger or count lobsters are mostly disposed of in the same way, 

 while the small lobsters are sold to the canneries at North Haven and Castiue. A small quantity 

 of lobsters is peddled up the river. About ten well smacks visit this region during the lobster 

 season. They seldom make regular trips, but run whenever they feel certain of obtaining a 

 load. The fishermen generally contract for only one load at a time. 



ViNAL HAVEN. Lobsters are very abundant in all the waters surrounding the island of Viual 

 Haven, and are quite equally distributed. In the early spring they are found somewhat farther 

 from land than in the summer, and in depths of 15 to 25 fathoms. As the season advances they 

 gradually move shoreward, into more shallow water, and enter the coves and creeks. Good fishing 

 is frequently obtained in the summer iii water so shallow that the pots are left uncovered at low 

 tide. The fishermen are moreover rarely obliged to go much more than a mile from the shore, at 

 any season. 



A large percentage of the professional boat fishermen of Viual Haven engage exclusively iu 

 lobstering for several months of each year. The season usually begins between the middle and 

 the last of March, and continues until the first of August. Some of the men, however, drop off 

 at intervals from the first to the middle of July, to engage iu other fisheries, and a few also leave 

 off iu June. A very few men keep down their pots, or a portion of them, into the fall, or until 

 about December, catching a few lobsters, and keeping them iu their cars until such times as they 

 can find a sale for them. The fall of 1879 afforded so good a mackerel fishery that but little 

 lobsteriug was done. The fall fishery iu previous years began about the middle of September, 

 and continued until about the first of December. But very little lobster fishing has ever been 

 done iu the winter. 



The homes of the lobster fishermeu are scattered along the shores of the island, but are prin- 

 cipally located in the coves and harbors aud on some of the smaller islands, which lie close to the 

 western side of the main island. The pots are usually set at the nearest fishing grounds, either 

 in trawls or singly, the latter method generally having preference, as they can then be scat- 

 tered more in case the lobsters are scarce. The fishermeu claim that by shifting them a little 

 every time they are hauled, which naturally results from the drifting of the boat, they obtain better 

 results. Row boats are generally used iu setting and hauling the pots, and sail boats very rarely. 

 One of the most common kinds of row boats employed iu this region is the so-called "double- 

 euder," or " pea-pod," which has already been described iu the general account of lobster boats, 

 aud which is said to have originated either at this place or at North Haven. Most of the lobster 

 fishermen of Vinal Haveu do a little farming iu the summer for their own use. In the winter a 

 few may find employment elsewhere, but the larger number do little beyond repairing their boats 

 and gear for the next spring, building a new boat, perhaps, or getting in their year's stock of fuel. 



Flounders and sculpins principally are used as bait, aud also some fish heads, when they cau 

 be conveniently obtained. The flounders and seulpius are caught by the lobstermen themselves, 

 by means of spears, fyke-nets, and hooks and lines. Although not as abundant as formerly, they 

 still occur in considerable numbers in most of the shallow coves and inlets. In windy weather the 

 surface of the water is rendered smooth by the application of oil. 



In 1880 eighty-two men from Vinal Haven were engaged in the lobster fishery, setting on an 

 average sixty pots each, a smaller number than iu many neighboring sections. The average stock 

 per man for the four months from April 1 to August 1 was $100, and for the two and a half months 



