PUBLIC DOCUMENT No. 25. 39 



impracticable. By the adoption of a standard trap with en- 

 trance rings of definite diameter, which would effectively 

 exclude all lobsters above a certain size, e.g., 12 inches, and the 

 rigorous enforcement of the legal limit of 9 inches, the lobster 

 fishermen would be permitted to catch marketable lobsters 

 between 9 and 12 inches, and the large breeding lobsters above 

 12 inches in length would be automatically protected. This 

 plan offers the only practical way by which the future supply of 

 lobsters may be maintained, and at the same time permits the 

 fishery to be carried on. 



3. Protection of Egg-bearing Lobsters. - - The present law pro- 

 tecting the egg-bearing lobster should be continued. Until the 

 various lobstermen's associations assume complete charge of the 

 liberation of these breeders, it is advisable to continue their 

 purchase by the State, although their immediate return to the 

 water by the fisherman is certainly a greater benefit to the 

 fishery. 



4. Lobster License. The lobster associations believe that the 

 granting of lobster licenses by the State would prove of great 

 value in the protection of legitimate lobster fishing. Your 

 commissioners likewise feel that such a law would be greatly in 

 favor of the best interests of the lobster fishery. Licensing 

 would make the enforcement of law more effective by providing 

 that any person convicted of violations of the lobster laws 

 should be refused a license for a year, thus eliminating pooling 

 of interests and the pro rata assessment of fines among the 

 members of any combination. 



INLAND FISHERIES. 



In addition to the salt-water fisheries, Massachusetts has ex- 

 tensive opportunities for the development of the inland fish- 

 eries the importance of which has not as yet been realized. 

 There are 94,254 acres of ponds over 10 acres in area and no 

 less than 4,000 miles of streams, although many are badly 

 polluted by sewage and manufacturing waters, which offer ex- 

 ceptional opportunities for the cultivation of food and game 

 fish. Each year this department continues to stock these 

 waters more extensively with small fish. Approximately 600,000 

 fingerling and 2,000,000 brook trout fry have been distributed 



