730 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



be so high that it would prohibit fishing, neither so low that a sufficient age for reproduction may 

 not have been attained) we may in time get back that which we have so foolishly sacrificed. 



"Lobsters of a less length than 10J inches have been found bearing eggs, but by careful obser- 

 vation and inquiry I have found the exceptions to be very rare. Therefore this standard could 

 not be safely fixed under that length, but should, on the contrary, be as much above it as possible 

 still not so high at first as to cause hardship to the fishermen, while from time to time an advance- 

 ment might be made as the supply of the required length increased and more nearly met the 

 demand. 



" Having pointed out the necessity of such a law, and indicated the best modes of its appli- 

 cation, it only remains to be shown how it may be made effective. 



" I think it is an established fact that protective measures can only be carried out in the open 

 market, where the possession of unlawful fish or game is prima facie evidence of guilt. Such a law 

 has been in full force in Massachusetts since 1874, but the possibility of finding a market outside the 

 State has been a barrier to the best results ; and just so long as there is any place where lobsters 

 may be indiscriminately sold, we cannot justly judge of its efficiency. I am fully aware that in 

 advocating a measure of this kind opposition will arise, which must be met and answered in the 

 most tolerant spirit; for fancied rights of individuals are not always in accordance with the 

 reasonable demands of the public good. 



" The first opponents of the law for the protection of lobsters in Massachusetts were the fisher- 

 men, whose testimony at the same time was the best evidence given of the necessity of such a law. 

 These, however, after a trial of one year, not only became reconciled to it, but even its strongest 

 advocates, and realize year by year more fully the wisdom of the measure they so bitterly opposed. 



" There has been one circumstance noticed which I think quite significant, viz, that the first 

 year the law went into effect one-fourth of the whole number caught were obliged to be thrown 

 back on account of their insufficient size, which proportion has gradually diminished until at 

 present scarcely more than one in ten is discarded. The State of Maine, which possesses the 

 largest lobster-producing grounds ou the coast, has from time to time passed laws for the protec- 

 tion of the lobster fishery, but has had a powerful and important interest in opposition to a limit 

 which no other State has, the size being of less importance for canning purposes than for other 

 consumption. This year, however, a law has been enacted by which the cauners are obliged to 

 confine their operations to four months of the year, while for the remaining eight months a limit of 

 10 inches is required, and, I think, may be looked upon as a great step in advance of any law 

 previously passed. This movement was made by the fishermen in the form of petitions to the 

 legislature, numerously signed, and from one end of the State to the other. Maine, New Hamp- 

 shire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut each have laws practically corresponding to each other, 

 while New York, without a law which might so much assist in protecting the other States, only 

 helps on an illegal and wasteful practice." 



A committee from the Fish-Cultural Association, consisting of the president, Mr. Roosevelt, 

 Mr. E. G. Blackford, and F. Mather, was appointed to draft some additions and amendments to 

 the New York game law. They met, and among other things recommended that the 10 inch 

 limit on lobsters be added, which is now before the legislature. By this co-operation the market 

 is closed, without which the laws of the lobster-producing States were inoperative. 



STATEMENT OF ME. J. WINSLOW JONES, OF PORTLAND, ME. In a letter dated December 22, 

 1880, Mr. J. "W. Jones, one of the largest cauuers on the coasts of Maine and the British Provinces, 

 gives the following opinion regarding the protection of the lobster fishery : 



" In relation to the duty on lobsters, although lam packing in the provinces, I want the duty 



