THE LOBSTER FISHERY 645 



for both rail and air shipment of Hve lobsters. These cartons are similar to those 

 made from other materials and have separate compartments for ice. 



Boiling, Live lobsters are preferred in nearly all markets," and consequently 

 comparatively few lobsters are boiled before marketing. In many districts retail 

 dealers boil live lobsters for their patrons after their purchase. 



Boiled live lobsters will keep for a week if they are packed in ice. Much boiled 

 lobster meat is picked from the shell and sold for the preparation of salads and 

 for other purposes. 



The form and size of the boilers used for cooking lobsters vary widely; the 

 large dealers use rectangular tanks or vats, partially filled with water into which 

 steam is passed. The live lobsters are placed in an iron framework basket which is 

 lowered into the tank by means of a small derrick. Small dealers and fishermen 

 use boilers varying in size from an ordinary washboiler to a smaller form of the 

 tank used by the larger dealers. A small amount of salt is usually added to the 

 water, and the lobsters are usually boiled for 20 minutes, or until the proper red 

 color indicates that they are sufficiently cooked. 



Canadian and Newfoundland Lobster Fishery 



Live Lobster Industry. The methods employed by lobstermen in Canada and 

 Newfoundland very closely resemble those used in the United States. However, 

 the scale of the business is very much greater in Canada than anywhere else in 

 the world. In Nova Scotia alone there are over 3,000 men employed in lobster 

 fishing during the season, and a total of approximately 9,600 are engaged in 

 this fishery in the Maritime Provinces. 



Canadian and Newfoundland lobstermen, for the most part, use the same type 

 of pots as those commonly employed in the Maine and Massachusetts fishery. 

 However, the style of traps has changed from those with slats 2 inches or more 

 apart to those which retain nearly all the small lobsters which enter. The dimen- 

 sions and shape of the pots vary in different localities, depending upon the cus- 

 tom in the vicinity and the ideas of the individual lobsterman; but, as in Maine, 

 the semicylindrical trap with an entrance funnel at either end is most popular. 



As in New England the fishermen set their pots in relatively deep water in cold 

 weather and bring them nearer the shore in spring. Since 1874 closed seasons 

 have been established in the diflFerent Canadian Provinces. At present the length 

 and time of this closed season varies in different sections of the coast. The open 

 season has been greatly restricted in all the provinces and in some cases has been 

 limited to 6 weeks. The minimum legal length varies from 8 to 10.5 inches in the 

 different provinces; but this law is not strictly enforced. The taking of berried 

 lobsters has been forbidden in Canada since 1873. 



The long closed season makes the Canadian lobster fishery a seasonal industry. 

 Thus, all lobstermen engage in other occupations for the greater part of the year; 

 a few of them are farmers, but the greater majority fish during the closed season. 



The live lobsters are usually collected from the lobster fishermen in well-smacks 

 by the canners or wholesale dealers. The wholesale dealers transport the lobsters 

 either to the markets in the well-smacks or to a shipping point where they pack 

 them in barrels with ice and ship them to the markets. A large portion of the 

 lobsters marketed alive are exported to the United States, where Portland, Boston, 

 and New York are the most important lobster-importing markets. 



