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YEAR 

 Figure 5. — Relations between numbers of traps and landings. Newfoundland to New York, and Boothbay Harbor temperature (°C), 1939-71. 



affecting yield have been evident throughout the his- 

 tory of the Maine lobster fishery (Dow, 1966). 



In more recent years when sea temperature has 

 been approximately the same, catch has decreased de- 

 spite comparable or even increasing effort (Table 1 1). 

 These declines appear to be indicative of the effects of 

 overfishing. This will be discussed below in some de- 

 tail. 



Catch, fishing effort, and other related data had 

 been gathered sporadically and differentially by the 

 State of Maine from the establishment of the Depart- 

 ment of Sea and Shore Fisheries in 1885 to World War 

 I. Scattered records of annual catch were reported 

 after 1843 when commercial canning operations were 

 developed. Detailed information of the annual catch was 

 first made in 1880 when landings were 6,457 metric tons. 

 In 1887 the catch was nearly 10,000 metric tons, and in 

 1889 the all-time record catch of 1 1,091 metric tons was 

 made, a total of only 22 metric tons more than the second 

 highest year of 1957. 



After 1889 annual production steadily declined for 



approximately 15 yr. Consecutive year data of more 

 than 5 yr were first reported beginning with 1897. Be- 

 tween 1919 and 1938 information was irregularly col- 

 lected by the department and the U.S. Fish and Wild- 

 life Service independently, and since 1939 by both 

 agencies collaborating in a continuous data recording 

 program. 



A study made by the Department of Sea and Shore 

 Fisheries of three fishing areas indicated that catch 

 per trap is not a valid index of abundance. During the 

 time of this investigation, a total of 807 daily trap hauls 

 produced 2,055 lobsters, or an average of 2.546 lob- 

 sters per trap haul, while a total of 2.505 set-over trap 

 hauls produced 6,323 lobsters, or an average of 2.524 

 lobsters per trap haul. The importance of the data is in 

 the information they furnish in catch per unit of gear as 

 an index of population abundance. An average of 11 

 daily trap hauls made during 71 fishing days in all 

 months except January , June, and July produced 2,055 

 lobsters. An average of 13 set-over trap hauls made 

 during 198 fishing days in all months except July pro- 



14 



