(unpublished data) measured two lots of egg lobsters at 

 Boothbay Harbor; one of 66 ( 1948-49) and the other of 

 243 (1950). In the smaller lot, animals were grouped by 

 '/32 in. (0.79 mm) intervals; in the larger, by 14 in. (6.35 

 mm) intervals. Of the 66-lobster sample, 7 (10.6 per- 

 cent) were V/i in. (88.9 mm) or smaller in carapace 

 size. Of the 243-lobster sample, 11 (4.5 percent) were 

 3% in. (92.1 mm) or smaller. More recently Krouse 

 (1973) found that only II percent of 1,150 eggbearing 

 females were 3'/2 in. (88.9 mm) or less in carapace 

 length. The consistency of these results covering a 

 period of 25 yr appears to be an adequate demonstra- 

 tion of what probably will prove to be minimal spawn 

 stock requirements for maximum continuing catch in 

 the lobster fishery. 



Estimates of net weight increment with larger 

 minimum sizes have been made periodically by de- 

 partmental research personnel since 1951 and range 

 from 3 to 5 percent with each Vie in. (1.6 mm) incre- 

 ment to 3'/2 in. (88.9 mm) and 3% in. (92.1 mm). // 

 these estimates are valid, a minimum legal size of3^/i 

 in. (88.9 mm) would result in 15 to 18 percent net in- 

 crease in total landings; at i% in. (92.1 mm) the net 

 increase might well be an additional 6 to 10 percent. 



Two major objections made by fishermen to size 

 increases are ( 1 ) a probable increase in illegal lobster 

 meat and (2) the "ordinary" person in terms of income 

 could not afford larger, more costly lobsters. These 

 same objectors fail to realize the necessity for fisheries 

 employees to maximize their earnings if the relative 

 exclusiveness of the fishing industry is to be justified. 



Older fishermen will sometimes argue: "We had a 

 3Vi in. minimum years ago and no one could make a 

 living." The argument is spurious since landed value 

 was the principal factor influencing landings during the 

 economically depressed inter-World War I and II 

 period. Deflated prices paid fishermen for lobsters 

 during the 1919-1942 period averaged 6.80 per pound 

 less than in 1916, a decline of 31 percent in real landed 

 value. The average annual catch in these years was 6.8 

 million pounds (3.100 metric tons), a decline of 33 per- 

 cent from the 10.2 million pound (4,600 metric ton) 

 catch of 1916. The 1943 average price increased to the 

 equivalent value of 1916 and catch increased to an 

 annual level of 1 1 .5 million pounds (5,200 metric tons), 

 29 percent higher than the highest annual catch made 

 between 1919 and 1942. Typical of what happened are 

 the relationships among effort, temperature, and land- 

 ings (Table 9). 



The total number of traps fished each year is the 

 only available long-term indicator of effort. General 

 increases or declines in the number of traps are influ- 

 enced by changes in demand (see Section IV-A) as 

 indicated by fluctuations in the price paid fishermen 

 for their catch. Thus, price is a function of demand, 

 while the total number of traps being fished is a reflec- 

 tion of that demand in terms of effort. It can be con- 

 cluded that trends in the number of traps over several 



Table 9. — The relationships amon); effort, temperature, and lobster 

 landings. 



consecutive years are reliable indices of gross fishing 

 effort (see Fig. 5). 



During years of low landings when fishing effort and 

 seawater temperature are approximately the same, dif- 

 ferences in landed value appear to be the principal 

 factor influencing differences in catch (Table 10). 



B. Recruitment. 



Sample measurements have indicated that the catch 

 has become increasingly dependent upon recruitment 

 by moulting of previously sublegal lobsters. In 1947 

 only 79 percent of the catch consisted of newly re- 

 cruited lobsters; by 1953, previously sublegal recruits 

 made up 86 percent of the catch. Sampling of the catch 

 in York County in 1949 and 1950 indicated that in 

 those years the number of recruits in the catch aver- 

 aged 90 percent as compared with 83 percent for all 

 Maine coastal counties, suggesting that the present in- 

 tensive level of fishing effort coastwide had been ex- 

 perienced in York County two decades earlier. 



C. Yield, Fishing Effort, and Seawater Tempera- 

 ture. 



Interacting factors of fluctuating seawater tempera- 

 ture influencing supply and variable fishing effort 



13 



