minimum unemployment impact since the group that 

 would leave is relatively mobile; 



(2) License fee schemes would considerably reduce 

 income of those remaining in the fishery, which would 

 be a disadvantage to this proposal; 



(3) A reduction in the degree of capitalization 

 through any of the management plans would probably 

 raise total revenue produced in the fishery with an 

 increased catch which would benefit the entire fishing 

 community; 



(4) From a social point of view, the stock certificate 

 plan has the least disadvantages from the standpoint of 

 the fishing industry and surrounding communities. 



VII. CONCLUSIONS 



Biology. 



( 1 ) The American lobster ranges from Labrator and 

 Newfoundland to the Carolinas with the greatest 

 commercial concentration along the Maine and Nova 

 Scotian coasts; 



(2) The greater the concentration of hiding places 

 the greater appears to be the concentration of the 

 American lobster population; 



(3) American lobsters are scavengers, and will eat 

 any dead flesh available but may supplement their diet 

 with live mollusks, marine algae, and microscopic 

 plants; 



(4) The American lobster is a sedentary animal and, 

 therefore, is nonmigratory wherever rocky bottom 

 provides adequte shelter and food; 



(5) Counts made in Maine indicate that female lob- 

 sters produce from 6,000-40,000 or more eggs (Taylor, 

 1950); 



(6) The lobster is a comparatively slow growing 

 animal and is believed to be long-lived; 



(7) In Maine waters, the majority of the American 

 lobsters reach minimum legal size when they are 5-7 yr 

 old before most females reach maturity (Krouse, 

 1972); 



(8) Moulting of lobsters is caused when the lobster's 

 body becomes too large for his shell; 



(9) Natural and fishing mortality rate amounts to 

 approximately 90 percent or more of the legal supply; 



(10) Natural mortality is estimated to be 28 to 36 per- 

 cent for the prerecruit class of lobsters; 



(11) The recognized killers of lobsters are: (a) preda- 

 tion by fish, (b) cannibalism, (c) starvation, (d) dis- 

 ease, and (e) predation by man. The most virulent dis- 

 ease is caused by the bacterium Gaffkya hotnari: 



(12) Of the heavy metals, copper causes the highest 

 rate of mortality among lobsters. More acutely toxic 

 are many pesticides and some oil fractions. 



Population Dynamics. 



(1) Due to fishing intensity, nearly all of the avail- 

 able legal population is being caught each year; 



(2) The relation between catch and fishing effort re- 

 veals a maximum sustainable yield from the Maine 

 fishery of approximately 22. 1 million pounds which re- 

 quires 642,000 pots hauled 130 times during the year. 

 The actual number of pots fished in 1971 was 1.2 mil- 

 lion; 



(3) Seawater temperature has a measurable influ- 

 ence (within certain ranges) from year to year on the 

 abundance of American lobsters; 



(4) Using a dynamic pool model approach, present 

 fishing mortality is well in excess to harvest the max- 

 imum yield per recruit; 



(5) It is quite apparent that the Maine American 

 lobster resource is becoming increasingly over- 

 capitalized. 



Consumer Demand for Lobsters. 



(1) Over the 1950-69 period, the rate of growth in 

 per capita consumption of all lobsters was approxi- 

 mately 2.4 percent per year. The rapid growth in the 

 consumption of lobsters produced a rise in the ex- 

 vessel price of 4.8 percent per year which exceeded 

 the growth in all consumer prices, which averaged 1.7 

 percent per year. This factor has contributed to the 

 rapid buildup in fishing effort in the fishery. 



(2) Statistical analysis revealed that over the 

 1950-69 period, a 1 percent increase in per capita in- 

 come produced an increase in per capita lobster con- 

 sumption of 1.7 percent. However, a 1 percent in- 

 crease in lobster prices (related to other consumer 

 prices) would only reduce per capita consumption by 

 0.3 percent. 



(3) Household consumption of lobsters constitutes 

 about 40 percent of the total consumption and is 

 mainly concentrated in New England and the Middle 

 and South Atlantic areas. Institutions (restaurants, 

 etc.) sell the main percentage of the lobster supply 

 (domestic plus imports) throughout the United States. 



Earnings of Lobster Boats. 



(1) For individual boats, the number of traps fished 

 and fishing trips is the most significant determinant of 

 annual lobster production. Boat size, age, and distance 

 to the grounds also influence annual production. 



(2) A 1967 sample of lobster boats indicated that 

 average weekly earnings (after deduction for returns to 

 investment in boats and traps) of lobstermen were 

 $1 16.79 per week compared with $93.07 in manufactur- 

 ing industries in the State of Maine. In contrast to 

 other industries, the dispersion in weekly earnings 

 ranged from a loss of $400 to a positive return of $700 

 per week for laboring efforts. 



Demographic Characteristics. 



(1) Using a sample of lobstermen, it was found that 

 the average years of education was 9.8. 



(2) The average age of the sampled lobstermen was 

 42.6 years. 



35 



