Figure 6. — A wire trap being hauled. This trap is fitted 

 with a side funnel made of woven reeds. More usual 

 practice was to make the funnel of hardware cloth. In 

 some traps, the funnel was in the top panel, rather than 

 in the side of the trap. 



for removal of the lobsters and insertion of bait. 

 Weights are generally placed in the trap, on the 

 bottom panel, to keep it upright. 



Wood traps . --Wood traps (figs. 7 and 8) 

 proved the most successful during the period 

 covered by this report. The traps used are iden- 

 tical to those used in the Florida spiny lobster 

 fishery (Cope, 1959). They are built of wood 

 slats and measure 2 by 3 feet at the base. The 

 sides slope in so that the top is somewhat 

 smaller. Each trap is about 18 inches deepand 

 is furnished with an 8- inch square funnel mouth 

 on the top of the trap with the funnel extending 6 

 inches into the trap. This opening is used for 

 baiting and removing the catch as wellas for an 

 entrance for the lobsters. Initially, cement 

 blocks, 3 by 8 by 8 inches and weighing roughly 

 16 pounds each were wired to the bottom of the 

 trap for weight; however, concrete poured into 

 partitions provided on each end of the trap 

 proved more efficient. The amount of weight 

 necessary to properly settle a trap depends on 

 the ability of its wood to absorb water and the 

 velocity of the currents in the fishing area. 

 Usually about 30 to 40 pounds is sufficient to 

 ensure upright sinking of a new trap. 



Buoys, floats, and lines . --Marking the loca- 

 tion of and retrieving the traps are accom- 

 plished with a system of buoys, floats, and 



Figure 7. — Wood trap being hauled. The funnel can be seen 

 in the center of the trap top. Wood traps produced higher 

 catches than either wire or reed and required less up- 

 keep. 



lines (figs. 9-11) The buoys and floats can be 

 made in a variety of ways from a number of 

 materials. Those described herein, however, 

 proved suitable during the survey and are 

 recommended for maximum ease of operation. 



To make a flag buoy, two or three 8- penny 

 nails are driven partially into a 40- inch broom 

 or mop handle a few inches from one end. That 

 end is then set in a pint milk carton, and the 

 carton is filled with cement. A minimum of 

 three 6-inch squares of 2-inch styrofoam is 

 then threaded onto the pole and fastened with 

 tarred twine a little more than halfway down the 

 pole. Encasing the styrofoam in a plastic bag 

 helps protect the edges. The pole is painted 

 with fluorescent orange paint above the styro- 

 foam, and a flag is attached to the top for 

 visibility. 



Each flag buoy is provided with a 2-fathom 

 length of No. 42 seine twine, which is doubled 

 and secured to the pole above and below the 

 styrofoam. A 5-inch round styrofoam float is 

 tied to this line about 6 feet from the flag buoy 

 to help float the main buoy line away from the 

 trap and to provide a well-marked target area 

 for throwing the grapnel as the first step in 

 retrieving the trap. 



Each trap or string of traps is also provided 

 with a 3- by 4-inch cylindrical plastic float 

 which is threaded onto the main buoy line from 



