236 REPORT OP COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



As the laws of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine prohibit 

 the holding of the "berried" lobsters by the fishermen, arrangements 

 are made with the State authorities by which certain officials of the Fish 

 Commission are appointed deputy wardens and authorized to hold egg- 

 bearing lobsters for fish-cultural purposes in live-boxes. Early in the 

 spring all of the lobster fishermen in the territory referred to above are 

 visited by agents of the Commission, who arrange with them to hold 

 all of their egg lobsters in live-cars until called for, at a price agreed on. 



Collections are made from Woods Hole and Gloucester by steam 

 launches and sailing vessels. The steam launches visit the near points 

 three to four times a week to obtain egg-bearing lobsters. The vessels 

 collect at more distant i)oints in Connecticut and Maine. Local agents 

 at Boston and Plymouth, Massachusetts, and Kittery Point, Maine, 

 also collect egg-bearing lobsters, which are held in live-boxes until the 

 agent has a sufficient number to make a trip. On the arrival of the 

 vessel or launch at the station the lobsters are transferred to tanks 

 supplied with running water and held until the spawn-taker is ready to 

 strip the eggs. 



TAKING AND MEASURING THE EGGS. 



The receptacle into which the spawn-taker strips the eggs from a 

 lobster is either a glass jar (9 inches in diameter) or a water-bucket, 

 which, after thorough cleaning, is partly filled with water. 



The operator, with his left hand, grasps the lobster from above and 

 turns it on its back, lowering it into the spawning-vessel head down- 

 ward. By pressing it firmly against the sides of the jar it is prevented 

 from using the anterior part of its body or its mandibles. The hand is 

 then slipped farther back toward the tail and the segmented portion of 

 the body is held firmly to prevent its closing. The lobster is then ready 

 for stripping. A rather dull, short-blade«l knife is used to separate 

 the eggs from the swimmerets, to which they are attached by hair-like 

 fibers; stripping begins at the last pair of swimmerets and gradually 

 proceeds toward the body. As the eggs are scraped off" they fall into 

 the water in the jar. Some which adhere to the claws of the lobster 

 are washed off" by means of a small stream of water. The lobster is 

 then i)ut back into a tank, where it remains until liberated. 



Lobsters received by the local agents at Boston and Kittery Point 

 are held until a suitable quantity is on hand and are then stripped, the 

 eggs being taken to the station in transportation cans and the adults 

 released. Early in the spring the eggs stand transportation well, but 

 late in the season, as incubation becomes more advanced, they are very 

 delicate and are quickly affected by rough handling or sudden changes 

 in temperature. 



Before being transferred to the hatching-vessels the eggs are accu- 

 rately measured, generally with a glass graduate, into which they are 

 poured, the water being drawn off. The basis of measure is an ounce, 

 which contains about G,090 eggs. 



