764 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



Summation of the lobster fisheries in Bath district in 1880. 



Number of fishermen 88 



Number of boats 68 



Value of same $4, 100 



Number of lobster pots 3, 835 



Value of same $, 6T6 



Total amount of capital invested in the fishery $6, 970 



Number of barrels of bait used 1,900 



Value of same $950 



Quantity of lobsters sold to the market smacks and local fresh trade, iu pounds 213,400 



Value of same - - ~, H'25 



PORTLAND AND FALMOUTH DISTRICT. 



PORTLAND. Lobsters are taken off Portland, iu greater or less quantities, during the entire 

 year, but are said to be most abundant and in the best condition from March to July, and again 

 from October to the end of good weather, and during those seasons most of the fishing is done. 

 From July to October a very large proportion are soft, and but few are caught. The fall catch is 

 only about one half as large as that in the spring, although fully as many lobsters could be taken 

 were there a market for them. The fishermen belonging to Portland who engage exclusively in 

 this industry number about twenty-five, and live mostly on the islands of the vicinity Hog, House, 

 Peaks, Gushing, and Chebeague Islands, and at Cape Elizabeth. Nearly all of the shore fishermen 

 of this region, however, catch lobsters, to a greater or less extent, during the height of the 

 season, and sell to the Portland fresh markets and to the canneries. The local or warm-weather 

 fishing grounds are, situated off the back side of Hog Island, about Peaks and Gushing Islands, 

 and in the vicinity of Portland Light. The winter grounds are mainly off Caps Elizabeth. The 

 depth of water in which the traps are set varies with the season, from 3 to 30 fathoms. The men 

 generally go singly, set from forty to sixty-five pots each, and, during the height of the season, 

 sometimes visit them twice daily. A fair average daily catch per trap is about one marketable 

 and three small lobsters, which is said to be much less than in former years. Mr. Trefethen, of 

 House Island, states that twenty to twenty-five years ago he used to average seven lobsters to a 

 trap'eacli day, the weight of the marketable lobsters ranging from 4 to G pounds. Marketable 

 lobsters average at present about 2 pounds each. As a rule, the fishermen carry their catch 

 directly to market, and do not depend upon the smacks, as those living farther away are obliged 

 to do. Lobsters of 10J inches iu length and larger bring to the fishermen in the fresh markets from 

 1 to 5 cents apiece ; the smaller ones sell at 1 cent per pound. 



SOUTH HARPSWELL. At South Harpswell the lobster fishermeu go singly, tend forty to fifty 

 pots each, and make an average daily catch per trap of about three lobsters. A fair week's catch per 

 man amounts to about 900 or 1,000 lobsters, of which about one third are of marketable size and 

 the remainder only suitable for canning purposes. The marketable lobsters weigh, on an average, 

 about 2 pounds each. The smaller lobsters weigh so nearly 1 pound each that the canneries buy 

 them either by count or weight, as the fishermen may desire, at the rate of 1 cent per pound or 

 piece. Smack or count lobsters bring about 5 cents each. The best fishing is said to occur during 

 March and April. From July to October many soft lobsters are taken in the traps. The 

 summer fishery is conducted along the shores and about the inner islands of Casco Bay, but in 

 cold weather the fishermen are obliged to resort to the outer islands and offshore, grounds. Most 

 of the lobster fishermen go shore fishing at certain seasons, bnt a few make a business of lobstering 

 the entire year. Many engage in other kinds of fishing at the same time, keeping their pots set 

 and hauling them every two or three days, or when they cannot fish. During the present closed 

 season (1SSO) for small lobsters, many of the lobstermcn have kept a few pots down, saving the 



