BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATER FISH COMMISSION. 27 



iii the middle of the net. The lobsters crawl upon the net to feed upon 

 the bait, become en I angled in the meshes, and are hauled carefully 

 up and out of the water. Very often the beach is covered with rocks, 

 large and small, interspersed with holes and pits filled with water at 

 low tide. The seaweed grows over these places, thus affording capital 

 hiding places. One can often procure 100 lobsters in an afternoon from 

 a strip of this beach hardly as many yards long'. Tin? small boys hunt 

 them with long poles, on the end of which are tied large cod-hooks. 

 With these the boys reach in and feel about iu the holes and under the 

 rocks until they feel the shell of the lobster, when a smart or careful 

 haul, as the case may need, generally brings the animal out of his snug 

 quarters and at the mercy of his captors. A lobster factory could un- 

 doubtedly be set up with profit on some part of the Labrador coast ; 

 now a limited quantity are caught and carried over to the Newfoundland 

 factory. The lobsters that I have eaten from the Labrador coast have 

 an unusual sweet and juicy taste, it appears to me. They are seldom 

 very large, while the very young ones appear not to come in shore among 

 the rocks to any very great extent. When boiled at once, and eaten as 

 soon as cool enough, they are most delicious. 



Of the other edible invertebrates, oysters do not live so far north 

 and east, the oyster beds of Gaspe being the only successful enterprise 

 of this kind established as yet. Crabs are sometimes caught here and 

 eaten, but they are not as abundant apparently as farther east. Shrimps 

 are common, and may be eaten in a few places, but I have not seen them 

 used here as an article of food. Of the numerous species of edible mol- 

 luscs, abundant all along the coast, the mussel is a common dish, either 

 baked or boiled. Limpets may be eaten occasionally. Clams are some- 

 times found in the mud flats, especially along the coast line; and the 

 razor clam is abundant in but one or two localities. They are all used 

 and greatly relished by the people about the coast. 



Statistics. — The north-shore fisheries of the Saint Lawreuce are 

 separated into nine divisions, from Manicoungan to Blanc Sablon, as 

 follows : Godbout division, extending from Manicoungan to Point des 

 Monts, contains 15 stations ; Trinity, from Point des Monts to Bale des 

 Roches, 10 ; Moisle, from Pigon to Jambons, 30 ; Saint John's, from Shel- 

 drake to Esquimaux Point, It ; Watsheeshoo, from Betchouan to Little 

 Watsheeshoo, G; Natashquan, from Natashquan River to Nabisippi, G ; 

 Wash eecootai, from Kegashka River to Romaiue, 7; Saint Augustine, 

 from Coacoachoo to Chicatica, 41; and Bonne Esperauce, from Chica- 

 ticato Blanc Sablon (the terminus of the Canadian province), 33 stations. 

 The total value of the north-shore fisheries for 18S0 was $1,401,289, or 

 an increase on the preceding year of $126,200. The cod fishery was by 

 far the most valuable, amounting to nearly $1,200,000. In 1881 the 

 catch of cod was nearly double that of the previous year. 



Amherst, Mass., February 10, 1884. 



