THE LOBSTER FISHERY. 779 



several years ago, and the ordinary lath trap is now universally employed. A man setting fifty 

 traps would, at present, do well to catch twenty marketable lobsters per day, making the average 

 daily catch per trap less than one half. Twenty-five lobsters a day to the same number of traps 

 would be considered a large catch. The average monthly earnings of a man while fishing is about 

 $25. Twelve to fourteen men now engage in lobstering from Provincetown, many of them fishing 

 only a portion of the season. They are mostly old fishermen, who are unable to engage in the 

 more active branches of fishing, and who do little work of any kind after the lobster season has 

 ended; they fish singly. The entire catch, excepting about 500 lobsters consumed annually in 

 Provincetowu, is sent to Boston in the sloop smack Pennsylvania, of 29 tons measurement. This" 

 smack also bought lobsters at Chatham in 1880, and on some of her trips touched also at Ply- 

 month, even then often arriving in Boston with small fares. The same year she made thirteen 

 trips from Provincetown to Boston during the lobster season, carrying in all 11,956 lobsters, for 

 which she paid 7 cents each, making a gross stock of $836.92. The first trip was made on May 27, 

 when she carried 1,096 lobsters from Provincetown, and the best trip was made July 27, when she 

 obtained 1,644 lobsters at the same place. 



Capt. N. E. Atwood states that the Massachusetts lobster law does not affect the fishery at 

 that place, as a fisherman will not catch a dozen lobsters less than 10J inches long during the entire 

 season. 



Two men at North Truro set about one hundred traps in all. One fishes from April to 

 September, the other from May to the middle of July. Captain Hopkins, who uses fifty-eight 

 traps, states that his daily catch ranges from ten to twenty-five lobsters. Captain Collins sets 

 forty five traps and often obtains only fifteen lobsters a day, though occasionally his daily catch 

 amounts to forty lobsters. All of the lobsters from this place are sent to Boston and New York, 

 generally by rail, but sometimes by the same smack that visits Provincetown. In 1880 the price 

 was seven cents each, by count, and in 1878, eight cents. At Truro two men also engage in lobstering, 

 setting their traps both on the bay and ocean side of the cape. They handle only ten traps together, 

 and in 1879 stocked $75 on the ocean side and $25 on the bay side. The number of lobsters 

 taken was between 1,400 and 1,500. Most of the catch is used locally, and a portion sold to the 

 Provincetown smack, which makes occasional visits. From 1,000 to 2,000 lobsters are caught 

 annually by fishermen from South Truro, who also engage in other kinds of fishing at the same 

 time. The catch is mostly sent to Boston by rail. 



At Orleans only one man engages in lobstering, making an average daily catch of about forty 

 five lobsters from May to October. Four or five years ago there were eleven lobstennen at this 

 place, but as the business became unprofitable they left it. 



There are twenty lobstennen at Chatham and about the same number make their summer 

 headquarters at Monomoy. Ttey fish from about the 1st of June to the 1st of November, and set 

 from forty to eighty traps each. At Chatham the traps are set both inside and just without the 

 harbor. The average daily catch per man was about thirty lobsters, but in 1879 ouv man, with 

 sixty-six traps, averaged sixty lobsters daily, his catch for the entire season amounting to about 

 7,000 lobsters. The other fishermen obtained an average of 3,000 lobsters each for the same season. 

 The entire catch is carried to Boston in smacks. The price in 1879 was 6 cents each, by count, 

 which was lower than for the preceding four or five > ears. About nine years ago the price was as 

 high as 9 cents each. 



For the past three or four years a single fisherman from Barnstable, in company with one from 

 Yarmouth, has set a few traps in Barnstable Harbor during a small part of each year. In July, 

 1879, they used eight traps, and in July, 1880. twelve to fourteen traps. Their catch for each of 



