158 ABOUT LOBSTERS 



// yon will realize that it is a poorly paid profession. 



Or more exactly, it is poorly paid for the majority who 

 could probably earn a better day's pay working for Bath Iron 

 Works. But this shipyard is not nearby for most men nor 

 does such supervised and confining work appeal to men 

 who have an independent streak — they have got to feel 

 free and be their own boss. 



There are over 5,000 registered lobstermen in Maine 

 alone, and they catch approximately 20,000,000 pounds of 

 lobsters in an average year. That averages out to 4,000 

 pounds of lobsters per man. It includes the little man with 

 only 20 pots fishing from a dory as well as the expert who 

 catches more than average. 



Yet, 4,000 pounds per man in a year, at the recent 

 average price of 75 cents per pound, only comes to $3,000 

 per year, and out of this must come the cost of bait, gasoline, 

 and gear maintenance (30 per cent loss of pots per season 

 is not uncommon). 



You must be determined to be a top-liner if you want to 

 earn a good living as a lobsterman. Education is the prob- 

 able answer. 



Lobstering does not have to be poorly paid, and isn't, 

 for a few top-liners. It isn't easy to discover what makes one 

 lobsterman much more successful than another, any more 

 than you can put your finger on one doctor's success versus 

 another doctor's lack of it. Probably it's the knowledge of 

 his art (skill) that is an outstanding requisite. 



Notice that hard work is not listed here, because most 

 lobstermen are hard workers. Good luck seems to be of 

 small influence, since a bad storm and lost gear can hurt the 

 expert lobsterman as badly as the dub, though perhaps the 

 expert will read the signs of an approaching gale and get 

 some of his pots ashore. 



If knowledge is the key to becoming an outstanding 

 fisherman then what must this man know, and how can he 

 acquire the education? 



In the first place, the young fisherman must want to 



