56 ABOUT LOBSTERS 



2. Borer damage is at least nine times greater in 

 untreated traps than in those that have been treated. 



3. The life of any trap will be greatly increased by 

 treatment to prevent borer damage. However, where 

 high losses of traps from storms and other conditions 

 occur, these causes may outweigh the benefits of treat- 

 ment. 



4. Any treatment used seems effective. 



5. Treatments applied by brush should be renewed 

 periodically; probably once a year at least. 



6. Creosote base preservatives appear definitely to 

 reduce the catchability of the trap. 



7. No treated trap was as fishable as untreated 

 traps. (Any copper compound such as Cuprinol is 

 strongly poisonous to lobsters.) 



8. On the basis of these experiments, the best 

 treatments are tar, Koppers preservative, and aniline 

 dye. 



9. Borer control can be effected to a considerable 

 extent by rotating untreated traps. If untreated traps 

 are removed from the water for a three-day period each 

 month, any borers therein will be destroyed. 6 



Plugs 



Lobster claws in Denmark are fastened by a wire; in 

 Britain they are tied with a string. 



In the United States plugging is divided between ex- 

 cellent machine-made wooden plugs ( basswood ) and plastic 

 plugs. The plastic plug came into acceptance due to the 

 fact that claw blackmeat (caused by all plugs infecting the 

 meat) adheres to a plastic plug during cooking and is re- 

 moved with the plug. Sea and Shore Fisheries, in a bulletin 

 " Lobster Plugs and Their Effect on the Meat of a Lobster's 

 Claw," by Frederick T. Baird, Jr., states: "Discolored ma- 



6 See Robert L. Dow and Fred T. Baird, Jr., "Methods to Reduce Borer 

 Damage to Lobster Traps," Maine Department of Sea and Shore Fisheries 

 Bulletin #3, used in preparing this section on care of pots. 



