ABOUT LOBSTERS 133 



Today the seed lobsters at Oak Bluffs come from trawl- 

 ing and from depths and distances where it is not possible 

 to replace the fry. As a result, these hatchery fourth-stage 

 lobsters can be placed anywhere, and it is possible to re- 

 stock any desired location. 



Oak Bluffs was chosen for a hatchery because of its 

 warmer waters and proper salt content. Warmer water as- 

 sists in the speedier growth of small lobsters, permitting 

 them to molt more often and reach the fourth stage sooner. 

 Hatching lobsters is a highly seasonal business, lasting 

 only through one-half the year, for female lobsters hatch 

 their eggs only through the warmer months. To be a year- 

 round institution, the Oak Bluffs plant must primarily be a 

 research plant devoted to shellfish investigations as well as to 

 lobsters. Their work has evolved methods of circulating the 

 sea water in their tanks in such a way as to keep the fry 

 moving to discourage cannibalism, yet not to injure them by 

 forcing them against the outlet screens. Plenty of food is 

 provided to distract their cannibal traits. In Oak Bluffs, the 

 food is ground quahog instead of the usual ground liver. 

 Ground clams do not decay as quickly as liver, and the foul- 

 ing of the tanks is less likely. 



The results of stocking coastal waters with fourth-stage 

 lobsters are very difficult to prove exactly. 



Ernest W. Barnes, of the Massachusetts Division of 

 Fisheries and Game, states: 



It is especially difficult to do so in the case of lob- 

 sters, since it requires at least five years before they 

 reach the legal size and the effects of planting become 

 known. However, such data as we have on the catch 

 of lobsters in Rhode Island, where lobster propagation 

 has been carried on for many years, show very definitely 

 that the decline in the catch of lobsters was halted 

 within five to six years after lobsters had been released 

 from the rearing plant in quantities in excess of 500,000. 

 It is further significant that this increase was especially 

 noticeable in those areas which, because of their near- 

 ness to the hatchery, received the largest supply of 



