REPORT OF COMMISSIONERS OF INLAND FISHERIES. 79 



obvious disadvantage in throwing overboard a large number of 

 lobsters at the same point, for such a swarm would be likely to at- 

 tract large numbers of fishes and other enemies. 



Another method has been suggested and tried, as follows: the 

 lobsters are liberated upon a stony shore when the tide is out. The 

 ground is so wet and little tide holes so frequent that the lobsters 

 can burrow and hide. As the tide gradually comes in it is expected 

 that they will find themselves comfortably located, and will not swim 

 about in excitement and expose themselves to capture. Ground 

 which is free from sea-weed and large masses of rocks is also less^ 

 frequented by mummychaugs and eels. Above all, they should be 

 liberated in the morning, or at least not in the late afternoon, for 

 both they and their enemies are especially active at night. 



The migration of lobsters is an important subject, which at pres- 

 ent is not very well understood. In order to obtain some definite 

 data in respect to the movements of individual lobsters some inter- 

 esting experiments were made in 1898 by Dr. Bumpus, at that time 

 a member of this commission and director of the Scientific Labora- 

 tory of the United States Fish Commission at Woods Holl.* 



Four hundred seventy-nine lobsters from which the eggs had been 

 removed were taggedf and liberated at several points near Woods 

 Holl. Later, seventy-six of these were recaptured by fishermen, 

 and the copper tags were returned. Many other tagged specimens 

 were doubtless caught which were not heard from, and some lobsters 

 probably moulted and so lost the tags. 



The data gained by these experiments, however, showed great 

 variation in the movements, and a remarkable rapidity of migration 

 in certain cases; while many of the lobsters were recaptured in the 

 same locality three or four weeks after they were hberated, others 

 had travelled at an average rate of a mile a day for from ten to twelve 

 days. One, for example, was liberated at Woods Holl, on July 2nd, 



*"H. C. Bumpus on " The Movements of Certain Lobsters Liberated at Woods Holl during 

 the Summer of 1898." Bulletin of U. S. F. C, 1899. 

 fFor method of tagging see Fig. 18. 



