62 ABOUT LOBSTERS 



gles are 2-quart glass bottles sealed with a rubber cork (so 

 the water pressure will not push the cork into the bottle) 

 and attached part- way down the warp. They serve to keep 

 the slack of the warp off the bottom at low water. They are 

 a nuisance to handle when the warp runs up over the block 

 in the davit during hauling. 



Trawling 



Trawling for lobsters commenced about 1955, and was 

 started because of the need of an imaginative dealer who 

 sought for new sources of lobster supply. Lobster buying 

 is highly competitive, and finding a new way to procure 

 lobsters should be profitable. 



William Benson of Portland, who was a pioneer in 

 trawling states: 



We use the otter trawl such as is part of a modern 

 dragger, and our nets are employed with exactly the 

 same principles as those of conventional dragging. We 

 have several adaptations which facilitate use of the 

 gear for lobsters especially. For instance, we have to be 

 careful not to crush or damage them. Therefore, we 

 cannot use rollers under any circumstances. 



Depths run from forty-three to two hundred and 

 twenty-five fathoms in our experience. Lobsters are 

 most commonly found on the edge of the Continental 

 Shelf in a general area reaching from George's Bank to 

 the Virginia Capes. We fish where experience shows 

 lobsters to have been according to our records. Seasonal 

 movements in locality and depth are predictable. 



We do not get many salable fish. Fish do not seem 

 to want to hang around places where there are lobsters. 

 As a matter of fact, lobsters must be downright un- 

 friendly because it is very seldom that you catch any- 

 thing else when there is good lobster fishing. 



We have little or no damage from the nets because 

 of the above mentioned adaptations and precautions. 

 Other mortality averages about three per cent. 



