PROGRESS IN BIOLOGICAL INQUIRIES, 1939 Ze 
greater quantities in deep than in shallow water. Almost 100 per- 
cent of the rosefish are likewise from the deep zone. 
As soon as the data can be analyzed for seasonal abundance, and 
for varying degrees of abundance according to geographical location, 
the final curves of annual changes in abundance will be determined. 
For a few species, such as cusk and hake, which are taken only in 
small quantities by the otter trawlers but in large quantities by hook 
and line, we may have to depend largely on the analysis of the 
catches of line-trawl vessels. Data showing the number of tubs of 
gear fished by selected line trawlers and their catch for each depth 
and subarea have already been assembled for 6 of the 7 years under 
consideration, and will be analyzed in a like manner. 
LOBSTER 
The lobster fishery is of paramount importance to the shore fisher- 
ies of the North Atlantic States, since it furnishes all or part of the 
income of great numbers of small-boat fishermen from Maine to New 
Jersey. In 1937 this fishery produced a catch of over 11,500,000 pounds, 
worth nearly $2,500,000. Fifty years ago the catch was nearly three 
times as great, but it has declined in spite of protective regulations 
in all States, and artificial rearing in some. 
The research program began in March 1939, with the employment 
of Leslie W. Scattergood to carry on the investigations. The pro- 
gram has been divided into two main parts—the first dealing with 
hatchery and rearing methods and the second with the study of the 
Maine lobster population to obtain biological data necessary for the 
most effective management of the fishery. 
More than one-half of the total catch is accounted for by the Maine 
fishery. The records collected by the Maine Department of Sea and 
Shore Fisheries showed the catch in 1939 to be 6,625,000 pounds, com- 
pared to about 23,000,000 pounds 50 years previously when the fishery 
was much less intensive. Because of the importance of this species 
to the fishermen, and the need for the adoption of measures to at- 
tempt to maintain the yield, the State of Maine constructed a large 
rearing station at Boothbay Harbor in 1938 and 1939, and in the 
latter year joined in a cooperative lobster-research program with the 
Bureau of Fisheries. The object of the investigations undertaken 
was to develop improved methods of rearing lobsters and to obtain 
data that would assist in the determination and establishment of an 
adequate minimum-size limit. 
Experimental rearing to the fourth stage was conducted at the 
hatchery under different conditions of temperature, light, and food, 
but, due to unnatural water conditions present in the rearing station, 
the work was beset with difficulties which were only partially over- 
come at the end of the rearing season. Further experimental rearing, 
under more suitable conditions, will be attempted during the spring 
and summer of 1940. 
The commercial catch of lobsters was sampled along the entire 
coast of Maine from Cape Porpoise to Cutler. The sex and carapace 
length, as defined by State laws, were recorded for over 15,000 lob- 
sters. From these samples it was found that 12 percent of the 
number had a carapace length of less than 314 inches, 34 percent 
under 31, inches, and but 8 percent above 324 inches. Measurements 
