DISTRIBUTION OF THE LOBSTER. 787 



recorded from this region two in particular from off Atlantic City, weighing twenty aud twenty- 

 one pounds each. 



After passing the New Jersey coast, we soon coine to the region where Lobsters are more 

 continuously abundant. At one time they were common in New York Bay, but the establishment 

 there of large factories, which pollute the waters, has almost exterminated them aud dwarfed the 

 size of those remaining. Throughout Loug Island Sound, Lobsters are moderately abundant, 

 and are fished for at several localities. They become much more plentiful in the neighborhood 

 of Fisher's Island, Block Island, Montauk Point, the Elizabeth Islands, Martha's Vineyard, 

 and Neman's Land, all of which regions furnish a very important summer fishery. Nearly all 

 favorable localities on the Massachusetts coast abound in Lobsters, though overfishiug has 

 nearly depleted some sections, as at Province town. New Hampshire supports a limited lobster 

 fishery. 



The Maine coast excels all others of the States in the abundance of Lobsters, which are more 

 or less uniformly distributed from Portland to Eastport, some localities, however, being more 

 favorable to their existence than others. The fishery for this State is much greater than for all 

 the other States combined, Massachusetts ranking next. 



The Provincial coast, or at least the Nova Scotian part of it, is said to be more prolific in 

 Lobsters than Maine, though the fishery there is not of as long standing. We have little data as 

 to the relative abundance of Lobsters on the Newfoundland and Labrador coasts, but they are 

 apparently less common than to the south. 



BATUYMETRICAL RANGE. The Lobster ranges in depth from about low-water mark to at 

 least eighty fathoms, and the fishery is regularly carried on in some localities in depths of fifty to 

 sixty fathoms, especially during the winter. At Eastport and elsewhere on the Maine coast, 

 in the summer, they are occasionally left upon the shore by .the receding tide, either concealed 

 under stones aud seaweeds or partly buried in the sand. During the same season they may 

 also be frequently seen about the wharves of some of the Maine sea-coast towns, attracted 

 there by the refuse thrown over from the canneries. Twenty to thirty yeare ago, or before 

 the fishery had made much advancement, Lobsters were of much more common occurrence 

 in the littoral zone, and were often gaffed from the shore by the early fishermen. Even to-day, 

 in some places, the pots are set in such shallow water that they are exposed at low tide. 

 Several accounts of this shore fishery have been reserved for the industrial portion of the 

 present report. 



As explained elsewhere, Lobsters move towards the shore in summer, and away from it, or 

 into deeper water, on the approach of cold weather. During the principal fishing season, which 

 includes the warmer half of the year, they are most abundant in depths of a very few to about 

 fifteen or twenty fathoms, and it is within these depths that the pots are mainly set. 



OFF-SHORE RANGE. Lobsters have been recorded from the fishing banks off Nova Scotia, 

 from the fishing banks aud ledges of the Gulf of Maine, such as Jeffrey's Ledge aud Cashe's 

 Ledge, aud from other more southern off-shore banks. They have also been taken from the 

 stomachs of cod caught on George's Banks. There is, however, no off-shore lobster fishery. 



FRESH AND BRACKISH WATER. Lobsters will not live in fresh or brackish water, although 

 it is an unsettled question as to whether a slight admixture of fresh water is harmful to them or 

 not. They are caught at the mouths of large rivers where the water is decidedly brackish on top, 

 but when placed in surface cars at the same localities they are said to quickly perish, indicating 

 that the water must be, much more salt at the bottom. 



CHARACTER OF THE BOTTOM. Lobsters prefer rocky, gravelly, and sandy bottoms, and, 



