THE LOBSTER FISHERY. 727 



come bere in the summer to procure supplies for (hose in other localities. They pay on an average 

 1 cents apiece for lobsters, which five or six months later would bring 4 to 7 cents apiece. The 

 mouths during which the law is not in force are the only ones iu which soft lobsters are caught to 

 any extent, and this is also the season when small lobsters are the most plentiful, thereby fur- 

 thering the general destruction. In my opinion the Massachusetts law is the most beneficial to 

 the fishery." 



" There should be a law to protect the small and soft lobsters the entire year." 



RYE, N. H. "I would be satisfied with the existing law if it were enforced, but it is not; there- 

 fore, the lobsters are not at all protected. I think it would be better if all lobsters with spawn were 

 thrown back into the water; but it would be useless for me to do so, when others would catch 

 them, pull off the spawn, and thus evade the law. A provision to that effect would therefore, I 

 think, be of no value." 



Mr. A. C. Locke states that " the law of New Hampshire, as it now stands, is but a dead 

 letter ; it gives us the right to catch all lobsters over 10J inches long, at all times of the year, and 

 I venture to predict that at the end of ten years, under the present law, a new one will be 

 necessary, giving us the right to catch all lobsters above 8 inches long, if any such are left. We 

 are catching them too fast, and at the present rate of decrease we shall soon have to seek other 

 employment. We are taking every lobster just as soon as it becomes large enough to spawn, and 

 if the spawning season could be accurately determined all fishing should be prohibited during 

 that time. At other seasons all lobsters with spawn should be returned to the water." 



SEABEOOK, N. H. "It should be permitted to catch small lobsters, but egg lobsters should 

 always be thrown back into the water." 



GLOUCESTER, MASS. "All spawn lobsters should be thrown overboard, and a fine of $50 

 be imposed for non-conformity to the law." 



BOSTON, MASS. Mr. S. M. Johnson gives his opinion as follows: "In regard to laws that exist 

 at the present time, I think they can only be considered a step in the right direction. Their lack 

 of uniformity is their most objectionable aspect. What is needed is a uniform United States law 

 with a limit of 11 inches, and until we have this or one as effective we must suffer a waste, the 

 extent of which we have hardly begun to realize." 



PBOVTNCETOWN, MASS. Capt. N. E. Atwood states that "the law of this State prohibits the 

 capture and sale of lobsters less than 10 inches long. This does not iu any way affect the fishery 

 of this vicinity, as very few lobsters as small as 10J inches are found about here. A fisherman 

 will not catch a dozen such during the entire season." 



YARMOUTHPOKT, MASS. "It would be much better to throw back all spawning lobsters and 

 permit the capture of all salable sizes." 



WOOD'S HOLL, MASS. Mr. V. N. Edwards says : " The law now forbids the sale of all lobsters 

 under 9 inches long, but does not prevent any one from destroying all he pleases. All the lobster- 

 men of this place agree in believing that the best law would be one forbidding the sale or destruc- 

 tion of all lobsters with eggs." 



WEST TISBTJEY, MARTHA'S VINEYARD. Mr. Frank M. Cottle writes as follows: "There is 

 but one law governing the trapping of lobsters and that is what we call the ten-and-a-half law. 

 This law is made to protect young lobsters, but it does not do it, for we catch more from 9 to 10i 

 inches in length than any other, and as we cannot tell by eye-measure alone the exact length, they 

 are put into cars until measured for market, and then what are not dead are thrown away, so that 

 the destruction is the same and the benefit minus. For less than 9 inches we can measure by the 

 eye in nine cases out of ten and throw them, as we do, into the sea from the pots. Therefore if the 



