APPENDIX. 91 



In both these directions the efforts of the Commission have met 

 with great success, and while each year will undoubtedly see further 

 improvements in methods and results, yet it may safely be said that 

 the future changes will be in the nature of increased efficiency in 

 detail of the work and also in the ability to rear to still later stages, 

 if not to the adult stage. This is, without doubt, the ultimate goal 

 of lobster rearing, and indeed a more successful solution of the problem 

 of lobster supply can scarcely be thought of than the making it 

 possible for a lobster dealer to raise his own lobsters. The pro- 

 ductivity of the lobster is so great (from 8,000 to over 150,000 eggs 

 per lobster) that could a plan of rearing to the adult size be proven to 

 be successful, the future supply would be at once assured. 



For the benefit of those who are interested in the practical side of 

 lobster culture, and who may not have followed the development of 

 the plan as given in previous reports, a brief consideration of the 

 lobster culture work is here given, which, while it does not pretend to 

 be more than an outline of the subject, yet will go somewhat into 

 detail concerning the methods use at Wickford. 



I. NATURAL HISTORY OF THE LOBSTER. 



1. DISTRIBUTION. 



The American lobster is found along the Atlantic coast from 

 Labrador to Delaware. It attains its largest size and is most abund- 

 ant in the northern half of this range (Nova Scotia and Maine.) It 

 is found in all depths up to 100 fathoms. In deeper water than this 

 it is very rarely found, though sometimes reported from fishing banks 

 farther off shore. 



In Rhode Island waters the northern limits of the lobster-producing 

 territory are Mount Hope Point on the east side of Narragansett Bay 

 and Patience Island on the west side. Off-shore the lobster fishing 

 is carried on as far as 8 to 14 miles off Block Island. The usual 

 maximum depth of water in which pots are set, ranges from 12 to 

 14 fathoms, but occasionally in fishing some distance off-shore, the 

 pots are set in water from 16 to 19 fathoms deep. 



