42 ABOUT LOBSTERS 



nuity. It is a simple, practical machine which works; and it 

 uses materials available in out-of-the-way sections of the 

 country. However, except for the development of the parlor 

 pot and the use of nylon header twine, there has been no 

 big improvement in lobster pots for over one hundred years. 

 Where a mechanism has been so long without any great im- 

 provements, it seems highly probable that it is open to re- 

 design. 



In the old days, lobstermen had to use the materials 

 right at hand, but today with so many new materials avail- 

 able, and with modern transportation permitting these ma- 

 terials to reach the farthest corners, it is time to reconsider 

 lobster pot design. 



Criticis7n of design. There are several objections to the 

 modern lobster pot. 



First, it is too heavy for easy handling when out of 

 water, yet not heavy enough to anchor it securely to the 

 ocean floor when submerged. Because the pot is 99 per cent 

 wood, it is buoyant, and most of the ballast in a pot func- 

 tions to overcome this buoyancy rather than to hold the pot 

 down on the ocean floor. A pot which weighs 44 pounds out 

 of water weighs only 8 pounds submerged. Yet it is a 44- 

 pound lift when the pot is finally hauled out of the water 

 and into the boat. In other words, 36 pounds of the weight 

 of a pot is lost as far as acting as an anchor. 



Any redesign of a pot which would eliminate this use- 

 less buoyancy would make the job of lobstering much easier. 

 The obvious correction of this fault is to reduce the wood 

 used in a pot. Note the British pot described below. 2 In- 

 stead of wood slats, the frame is covered with nylon netting. 

 This, of course, reduces its buoyancy. A pot constructed of 

 metal would also solve this problem, but many lobstermen 

 believe that a metal pot will not catch lobsters. Experiments 

 with metal pots have been made by using galvanized chick- 

 en wire in place of slats. Such pots will catch crabs, but 

 seem to repel lobsters. 



2 See page 45. 



