ECOLOGY OF BUZZARDS BAY: An Estuarine Profile 



93 



$6,575,000 (S. Cadrin, Massachusetts Department 

 of Marine Fisheries, personal communication). 



In contrast to their reputation as a high priced 

 delicacy today, lobsters historically were so abun- 

 dant they were considered "poor man's food." 

 Records from the early days of the Plymouth 

 Colony described occasional "plethoras" of the 

 species thrown up onto the beach after a storm, 

 sometimes several layers deep and often consid- 

 ered a nuisance. In some parts of the country, es- 

 pecially the south, lobsters were fed to the servants 

 and slaves so frequently that a colonial Virginia gov- 

 ernment granted a petition that lobsters were not to 

 be fed to these individuals more than twice a week. 

 Cape Cod appears to be one of the first areas to 

 actually pursue the lobster as a true fishery in its 

 own right in the late 1 700's; the well known Maine 

 fishery did not support a lobster fleet until around 

 1 940 (O'Brien 1 990). What was once considered 

 a nuisance species has now turned into a multimil- 

 lion dollar industry (see also Chapter 4). 



The reason for the apparent decline in lobster 

 populations for the past few hundred years is not 

 totally clear, but overfishing and in some cases 

 coastal pollution are generally identified as the pri- 

 mary causes. In 1 84 1 the average catch for Buz- 

 zards Bay was one lobster per day per pot. Today, 

 the average catch per 3-day set is 0.8 lobsters per 

 day (Davis 1 989). Compared with 1 841 , today's 

 rate of 0.8 lobsters per day per pot appears low, 

 but the per unit catch in Buzzards Bay is still rela- 

 tively high when compared to that of northshore 

 fishing areas (Estrella and McKiernen 1 988, 1 989). 

 Buzzards Bay today remains a very productive lob- 

 ster area (Davis 1 989). The lobster fishery origi- 

 nally began around 1 807 along the Elizabeth Is- 

 lands, primarily in Cuttyhunk. In 1 880 the lobster 

 catch from the New Bedford district (84. 1 55 kg) 

 was as follows: New Bedford. 22,919 kg; 

 Fairhaven, 20,412 kg; Mattapoisett, 1,361 kg; 

 Dartmouth, 34,020 kg; and Westport Point, 5,443 

 kg. Lobster catch statistics from the period of 1 98 1 

 through 1991 show the annual catch to be rela- 

 tively stable over this period (Table 5.2) and similar 

 to that of 1 00 years ago. The lobster fishery also 



Table 5.2. Commercial lobster landings for 

 Buzzards Bay from 1981 to 1991 Data from Steve 

 Cadrin, Massachusetts Division of Marine 

 Fisheries, Sandwich, Massachusetts, personal 

 communication. 



provides a small recreational fishing industry. Lob- 

 ster traps require some attention and must be 

 checked frequently, especially in areas with higher 

 lobster populations, to avoid cannibalism. In con- 

 trast to fishing, lobstering is not generally consid- 

 ered a recreational activity for the transient tourist; 

 however, the increased demand for lobster in fish 

 markets and restaurants around Buzzards Bay dur- 

 ing the tourist season often results in inflated prices, 

 frequently inspiring residents who do not routinely 

 maintain pots to set out a few traps to catch lob- 

 sters for their own consumption. 



Buzzards Bay is important to the regional lob- 

 ster fishery as a productive spawning area and 

 source of larvae for Massachusetts Bay via the Cape 

 Cod Canal (Clayton et al. 1978; Davis 1 989). The 

 percentage of gravid females caught in 1 987 in 

 Buzzards Bay (3 1 %) was significantly higher than 

 those of regions north of Cape Cod. In compari- 

 son, areas north of Buzzards Bay maintained the 

 following averages: Cape Ann, 4.5%; Beverly- 

 Salem, 1.8%; Boston Harbor, 1.7%; Cape Cod 

 Bay, 3.9%; and Outer Cape, 1 6.9% (Estrella and 

 McKiernan 1988, 1989). 



