108 COMMISSIONERS OF INLAND FISHERIES. 



mium, discourages the fishermen from scraping off the immature eggs 

 in order to evade the law. 



C. HATCHING AND REARING AS DEVELOPED BY THE 

 RHODE ISLAND COMMISSION. 



1. INTRODUCTION. 



In view of the decided disadvantage with which the recently 

 hatched larvae commence life, and the very slight advantage, if any, 

 which hatching them artificially has over the natural methods, 

 it has been clearly recognized for a number of years that some further 

 protection must be given the young lobster if artificial methods are 

 to make any appreciable difference in the lobster supply. Herrick, 

 in whose charge the United States Bureau of Fisheries placed the 

 investigation of the entire lobster problem, said, in 1895, "The 

 problem of artificial propagation of the lobster will be solved when 

 means are devised by which larvse, after hatching, can be reared in 

 enclosures until the fifth or sixth stage, when they are able to take 

 care of themselves." 



This idea of rearing the larva? until they are able to care for them- 

 selves has been before the Rhode Island Commission since 1898. 

 But instead of rearing them to the fifth and sixth stages it has been 

 the policy until quite recently to rear them only to the fourth stage, 

 when, as has been seen, the lobsters assume the general form of the 

 adult and to some extent its habits. It is true that the lobster does 

 not entirely give up its swimming habits till it reaches the fifth stage, 

 and occasionally not until the sixth stage is reached. But since, as 

 will be shown later, the fourth stage lobster does burrow and, if 

 liberated with care at favorable localities, will hide at the bottom 

 among the stones and eel-grass, and also on account of the great space 

 required, it has been until lately impractical to retain them until a 

 later stage. With the continual enlargement of the plant and with 

 improvements in methods to such an extent that less space is required 

 for the fry, we have been able to rear many thousands to the fifth and 



