LXVI THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



What is now needed above all things is that which it is the duty 

 of the Dominion Government to supply — a properly organized and 

 efficient oyster protection service placed under the rules and regula- 

 tions of the Civil Service Act. 



Lobster Fishing. 



Along the shores of Eastern Canada there are perhaps the most 

 remarkable grounds for lobster fishing in the world. During the past 

 forty years they have produced a greater number of lobsters than 

 any other part of the globe. 



In former times and as late as the sixties, lobsters were so abun- 

 dant along the whole 5,000 miles of coast between Passamaquoddy 

 Bay and Labrador that after a heavy storm it was no uncommon thing 

 to find windrows of lobsters stranded on the coast, and these, in the 

 settled regions were often carted away by the farmers and used to 

 fertilize their lands. 



The canning of lobsters was started in the sixties and in 1869 

 61,000 one pound cans were produced; the next year the quantity in- 

 creased to half a million cans, and in 1871 over a million pounds of 

 lobsters were produced. In 1881 the output exceeded 17,000,000, 

 when it commenced to decrease till about 1898 when the output was 

 between 10,000,000 and 11,000,000 pounds. Since that time it has 

 shown a further decrease, about 9,000,000 pounds being now canned 

 annually. 



In addition to the lobsters which are canned, live lobsters com- 

 menced to be exported in the early eighties, and at the present time 

 between 100,000 and 120,000 cwts. are shipped in this form. The 

 statistics show that there has been a considerable falling off in the 

 number of live lobsters shipped in recent years although just to what 

 extent this has taken place is more or less uncertain as there is some 

 doubt concerning the accuracy of the statistics of this trade in its 

 earlier years. 



There are now nearly 700 canneries in the Maritime Provinces, 

 representing an investment of over $2,000,000 and giving employ- 

 ment to over 19,000 persons. The industry is second only to that of 

 the cod fisheries. 



The Government statistics are somewhat confused, the returns 

 in different series of years being made in cases, cans, pounds, cwts., 

 tons, &c, as the industry developed. These I have reduced to pounds, 

 thus making it possible to compare the annual output in successive 

 years. These figures with value of the product plotted as curves are 

 shown in the diagram. From an examination of the curve of production 



