LOBSTER, CRAB, AND SHRIMP 263 



two bricks. Attached to each pot is a relatively short 

 rope which reaches to the surface, where it is attached 

 to the runner or main line, which is a thousand or 

 more feet in length. The traps are attached at fifty- 

 foot intervals. Either end of the runner is made fast 

 to a buoy, which in turn is anchored to the bottom. 

 Some lobster fishermen mark their buoys with a home- 

 made flag by which they can identify their gear even 

 when they are some distance away. Others paint 

 the corks and buoys in a distinctive manner. 



The location and depth at which the pots are 

 placed depends upon the season, the shore, and the 

 nature of the bottom. In winter, as the lobsters then 

 retire from the shore, the traps are set in water from 

 sixty to one hundred and fifty feet deep. In the sum- 

 mer the pots are placed in water varying from ten to 

 sixty feet in depth. Many fishermen set a hundred or 

 more traps; and as lobsters become more and more 

 scarce, a larger and larger number of pots are set in 

 order to maintain the fishery at its present level. 



The length of the intervals between the fishing of 

 the pots depends upon the number of lobsters in the 

 locality, the season, and the weather. During rough 

 weather it is not easy to pull the pots and remove the 

 lobsters, for it is very difficult to handle a skiff or a 

 small motor-boat in a sea churned into fury by fierce 

 winds. Foggy weather is also bad weather for fishing, 

 for the lobsterman has difficulty in finding his buoys 

 and in avoiding collisions with other vessels. 



All sorts of fresh, salted, and stale fish are used as 

 bait. In New Jersey menhaden are commonly used 

 for this purpose; but in Maine, where herring are 



