LOBSTER, CRAB, AND SHRIMP 269 



trot-lines. Scrapes and dredges are the most rapid 

 means of taking crabs, but require the use of larger 

 boats and more valuable equipment than the other 

 two methods. Soft crabs are taken principally with 

 scrapes and dip-nets, since crabs do not bite just 

 before and immediately after shedding, and so can- 

 not ordinarily be caught on trot-lines. Dredges are 

 used chiefly for taking hard crabs found in deep 

 water. They offer the only means of capturing crabs 

 in winter, when they lie inactive, on the bottom, or 

 partially buried in it, 



A trot-line consists of a light rope, about a quarter 

 of an inch in diameter, varying in length from eight 

 hundred to two thousand feet, to which bait is 

 attached at intervals of three or four feet. The line is 

 anchored at each end, thus holding it in place while 

 on the bottom ; a buoy is also attached to the line near 

 the anchor in order to mark the location of the trot- 

 line. The trot-line is set very early each morning and 

 lifted when the crabs cease biting. The crab is a very 

 stupid creature indeed, for, once he has seized the 

 bait, he will not let go until he has devoured it. Thus, 

 when he has found the bait on the trot-line, he will 

 cling to it even though it is drawn to the surface. As 

 the crabber moves his boat along the trot-line, he lifts 

 the line and catches the crabs in a short-handled dip- 

 net while they are still clinging to the bait. 



The crabber classifies his catch of mature crabs 

 into six groups : (1) hard crabs, which are those with 

 the ordinary hard shell; (2) snots, which have just 

 entered the molting stage ; (3) peelers, molting crabs 

 whose shells have begun to break; (4) busters, molt- 



