COMMISSIONERS OF INLAND FISHERIES. 63 



and to whom and in what manner they shall be delivered. In this way 

 proper adjustment to conditions can be made and proper care can be 

 taken of the egg lobsters. 



In order to further insure that these lobsters shall reach out- 

 hatchery in good condition, it should remain illegal to retain the 

 same in any other manner. 



PROTECTING THE ADULT BREEDERS. 



While it is very desirable to save lobsters bearing eggs, it is un- 

 fortunately not sufficient. Our present knowledge of the biology 

 of the lobster shows that a female lobster extrudes her eggs not 

 oftener than once in two years and carries them for ten or eleven 

 months. With these facts in mind it is evident that during the 

 greater part of the year, one-half the female lobsters are not bearing 

 eggs, and in the remaining four to six weeks, which occurs at the 

 height of the fishing season (latter part of July to latter part of 

 August), practically no lobsters are bearing eggs. Therefore, if 

 protection is given only to the lobsters bearing eggs, we allow one 

 half or more of the mature female lobsters to be caught. Further- 

 more, since the sexes are divided approximately equal, one out of 

 every four mature lobsters, caught during the egg bearing period is 

 an egg lobster, and one of the remaining three is a female lobster 

 without eggs. These latter ones, according to our present law, are 

 legitimate property, and may therefore be sold to the markets. 

 The results are practically the same whether the eggs are destroyed 

 before or after extrusion. What is wanted is to save the mature 

 female lobsters. As we have seen, about one third of the lobsters 

 marketed are mature female lobsters. It would not be practical nor 

 advisable to compel the lobstermen to save all of these. Some other 

 method must be devised. 



At this point our knowledge of the natural history of the lobster 

 again comes to our aid and points out a way in which this may be 

 done and still not seriously reduce the amount of legitimate lobsters. 

 A lobster becomes mature when from eight to ten and one-half 



