THE PROBLEM OF FEEDING METHODS IN LOBSTER 



CULTURE. 



The problem of obtaining a satisfactory food for the lobster fry 

 is one of fundamental significance in the practical success of lobster 

 culture. The importance of this subject was early recognized by 

 Dr. H. C. Bumpus, who expressed himself in a report on experiments 

 in rearing young lobsters, as feeling " convinced that the food is the 

 determining factor in the problem of brooding."* 



Previous to 1898 lobster culture, as conducted l^y the United 

 States Fish Commission, consisted in merely hatching the lobsters 

 and immediately liberating them in the sea. It became gradually 

 recognized, however, that the immediate liberation of the lobster 

 fry is objectionable because no protection is given the young lobster 

 at the most critical period of its life, for it was soon seen that the 

 period at which the young lobster needs most protection is during 

 the first fifteen or twenty days after hatching. In view of this fact, 

 a series of systematic experiments on rearing lobsters was. begun at 

 Woods Hole in 1898, under the direction of Dr. H. C. Bumpus, at 

 that time director of the scientific work of the United States Fish 

 Commission. In 1900 these experiments were transferred from 

 Woods Hole to the Experiment Station of the Rhode Island Fish 

 Commission, where they were continued by Dr. A. D. Mead. Under 

 Dr. Mead's direction these experiments were carried to a successful 

 conclusion. He demonstrated that it is practical to rear the lobster 

 through the first four stages of its life. This work placed the methods 

 of lobster culture on a fundamentally new basis. 



In the transition to these new methods of lobster culture it became 

 necessary to make an extensive study of the various factors in- 



* 30th Annual Report of the Rhode Island Commission of Inland Fisheries, 1900, p. 44. 



