REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. XXXIII 



Lobster tcork. — Arrangements were made for collecting berried lob- 

 sters from flsliermen in the vicinity of Gloucester, Boston Bay, and 

 Kittery Point, and with the view to further extending- the work the 

 schooner Granqms was detailed to make collections along the Maine 

 coast from Portland to Kockland. Permission having been obtained 

 from the commissioners of Maine, iSTew Hampshire, and Massachusetts 

 for holding egg lobsters in live-boxes for the use of the Commission, 

 Captain Hahn visited the various fishing centers in March and made 

 the necessary atrangemeuts with the fishermen, who agreed to deliver 

 large females for 15 cents each and small ones for 10 cents. A small 

 steamer was chartered to make the collections in Boston and Gloucester 

 harbors. The season extended from April 17 to July 19, the total col- 

 lection amounting to 54,532,000, from which 47,869,000 fry were hatched 

 and planted. These results, though not as good as had been expected 

 from the extent of the territory covered, indicated that the work can 

 be greatly extended under favorable conditions. The weather during 

 the early part of the season was very bad, and as a large part of the 

 territory covered was new, the fishermen did not take much interest in 

 the work until the season was well advanced. The greater part of the 

 lobsters from Boston Bay came from the dealers, and by employing two 

 or three local agents instead of one next year it is probable that better 

 results can be secured. 



The collections by localities were as follows: Boston Bay, 23,687,000; 

 Gloucester Harbor, 5,950,000; Kittery Point, 0,966,000; the schooner 

 Granqms, in Maine, 17,370,000; Marblehead, 559,000. The egg lobsters 

 collected on the Maine coast were transferred without difficulty in the 

 well of the Granqms to Gloucester, where the eggs were stripped and 

 placed in jars, the lobsters being liberated by the vessel's crew at points 

 along the Maine coast on the return trip. Those collected in Boston 

 Bay were transferred by steamer, and little difficulty was experienced 

 in transporting them during the early part of the season. On the first 

 five or six trips they were carried in hogsheads packed in seaweed, no 

 water being used, but as the weather grew warmer it became necessary 

 to use water and to change it frequently en route. Ice was used, but 

 without any apparent eflect. This failure late in the season was prob- 

 ably due as much to the condition of the lobsters when received as to 

 the temi^erature, since many of them had been shipped to Boston, from 

 distant points, packed in ice. A vessel with a well should be used for 

 transporting them. 



The eggs were developed as heretofore, in the McDonald jar. As the 

 temperature of the water remained below 50° until June 1, the fry did 

 not commence hatching until after that date, but from that time on they 

 came out very rapidly, necessitating large plants each day. The bulk 

 of them were distributed in Massachusetts waters between Marblehead 

 and Bockport. By means of the Grampus 11,665,000 were shipped 

 to Maine and planted in the localities from which the lobsters were col- 

 F. R. 97 III 



