678 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



The manner of setting and hauling the lobster pots in the vicinity of Bath, Me., is described as 

 follows: 



u At first the pots were set on single warps or buoy lines, but now the style of setting them 

 trawl-fashion is almost universal. This method was introduced about 1865. It enables one man 

 to handle a large gang of pots, and his boat is prevented from drifting much by the pots which 

 remain upon the bottom. The old fashioned way of setting them on single lines required two men 

 in the boat, one to hold the boat with the oars, the other to haul the pots and remove the lobsters ; 

 when one pot was emptied and thrown overboard, they pulled for the next, and so on. At present 

 the fisherman rows out, takes hold of his buoy at the end of the trawl, and continues to haul with- 

 out intermission until he finishes the job. In winter, however, two men go in each boat. The 

 windy weather and the distances they go from the shore in winter often gives them hard pulls, 

 and even when under sail in fresh squally weather it needs two men to handle the boat. For 

 these reasons, two men are required, more as a matter of safety than from the difficulty of the 

 work, for as soon as the good weather begins in the spring those that continue to fish go singly." 



NUMBER OF TRAPS USED. The number of pots used by each fisherman, or by each boat, 

 sometimes including two fishermen, varies greatly on different parts of the coast, ranging all the 

 way from ten to one hundred, and in some places as many as one hundred and twenty-five are said 

 to be handled by a single person. There seems to be no rule regulating this matter, but the 

 average is greater on the coast of Maine than elsewhere. The fishermen claim that they are 

 obliged to set a greater number now than formerly in order to obtain the same catch. Many 

 of the fishermen keep a surplus on hand, in order to replace those damaged or lost during storms. 

 In the coast review of the lobster fishery, the average number of pots used on each section of the 

 coast is indicated. 



TIME OF VISITING THE TRAPS. The traps are generally hauled once a day, beginning early 

 in the morning or about sunrise. In some places during seasons of great plenty, they are visited 

 twice each day, early in the morning and again towards evening. A Gloucester correspondent 

 states that it is customary in that vicinity to visit the pots in the morning during the winter and 

 spring, and in the morning and evening during the summer. It sometimes happens on exposed 

 sections of a coast that stormy weather interferes with the hauling of the pots for several days at 

 a time, and they can be visited only during pleasant weather. 



All fishermen do not hold to the custom of visiting their pots at a certain hour in the morning, 

 but haul them at any time during the day when it is most convenient or when the weather is most 

 favorable. In strong tidal regions the state of the tide has frequently to be considered, and the 

 pots can often be visited only at or about slack water, low tide being preferred. 



The hauling of the pots consumes but a small portion of the day, and the remainder is spent 

 in procuring bait and making repairs, or in other occupations. 



OTHER METHODS OF CAPTURING LOBSTERS Lobsters are frequently caught in seines which 

 are being hauled for fish, but we have never heard of seines being employed exclusively for lob- 

 sters on any part of our coast. Another kind of net which answers for catching lobsters upon 

 smooth bottoms in shallow water is the beam-trawl, an appliance used by the Fish Commission in 

 its sea-coast explorations. Having a wide scope and quickly entrapping whatever animals lie in its 

 course, it frequently brings up from rich lobster bottoms such catches as would gladden the heart 

 of any lobster fisherman. Fishing for lobsters with nets of this character would, however, prob- 

 ably never be permitted upon our coast, where the much more humble lobster pot has already 

 proved so destructive in many localities. 



