BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 421 



205.— NOTES OIV THE DECREASE OF LOBSTERS. 



By KICIIARD RATIIBUX. 



[A paper read before the American Fisbcultural Association.] 



One of the most important of our sea-coast fisheries is that afforded 

 by the American lobster, the Homarus americanus of naturalists. This 

 interesting crustacean, the largest of its kind in xs'orth American waters, 

 ranges from Labrador in the north to Delaware in the south, but is 

 most abundant and most sought for along New England and the south- 

 ernmost of the British coast provinces. 



Its great abundance and rare flavor are not unfrequently mentioned 

 in the early annals of New England, and it probably formed an important 

 element in the food supply of the sea coast inhabitants Of colonial times. 

 As a separate and distinct industry, however, the lobster-fishery does 

 not date back much, if any, "beyond the beginning of the present century, 

 and it appears to have been first developed on the Massachusetts coast, 

 in the region of Cape Cod and Boston, although some fishing was done 

 as early as 1810 among the Elizabeth Islands and on the coast of Con- 

 necticut. Strangely enough, this industry was not extended to the 

 coast of Maine, where it subsequently attained its greatest proportions, 

 until about 1840. Concerning the history of this unique flsheiy but few 

 authentic records of any kind exist, nor was any attempt ever made to 

 estimate its extent and value prior to the census investigations of 1880. 

 We are, therefore, left without much reliable data for comparing its past 

 and present conditions, and for solving the many problems which now, 

 in the minds of many, seem to threaten its continued prosperity. 



The great question at issue, and one which demands the earnest atten- 

 tion of every lobster fisherman and dealer, is whether lobsters are de- 

 creasing in abundance and will eventually become rare and difficult to 

 obtain, or whether they are still as plentiful as ever and show no indi- 

 cations of approaching extinction. While we hope for the latter, we are 

 forced to acknowledge that a careful study of all the materials at our 

 command inclines us to the belief that the abundance of lobsters has 

 very perceptibly diminished within com])aratively recent times, and that, 

 unless some active measures are instituted to prevent continued decrease 

 in the future, a great and irreparable injury to the fishery will ensue. 



Although, as we have just 'said, the lobster-fishery is without a care- 

 fully recorded history, we have been enabled, through the assistance of 

 many intelligent fishermen and dealers, some of whom have shown them- 

 selves to be very capable observers, to trace back the conditions of the 

 fishery through a number of years. The results so obtained have been 

 embodied in a report prepared for publication by the United States Fish 

 Commission. It has been suggested that a short statement of some of 

 the facts bearing upon the supposed decrease might be of interest to the 



