LOBSTER SANCTUARIES AND HATCHING PONDS 45 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 38a 



bait ; and he will tell you with supreme confidence that lobsters are fond of the disgust- 

 ing mess. To be sure, starving lobsters will eat bones, just as starving men have been 

 known to eat their boots; but to assert that putrefying gurry is all the food tliat 

 berried lobsters require is to assert what cannot possibly be true. 



Another necessity in conserving the health and strength of the animals is shade. 

 In their natural haunts they shrink from the light, hide under rocks or in weeds, and 

 burrow in the mud. Why cannot these natural habits of the animal be recognized in 

 any sanctuary that may be provided for them? Shelters in the shape of boxes made 

 of cement or wood should be provided on all areas in which they are confined. If the 

 space is small a dark canvass " fly " such as is stretched over a tent in hot weather 

 would meet the habit of the animal to some extent at least. Surely if it is worth 

 while to impound lobsters at all for breeding purposes, it is worth while to see that 

 animals are well cared for both during transportation and confinement. The 

 attitude of the intelligent stock-breeder towards his breeding animals is the attitude 

 which should be inculcated upon fishermen in regard to berried lobsters. 



Lastly, before a decision is reached as to the location of any inclosure, the pond, 

 cove, or harbour in which it is proposed to locate it, should be subjected to a biological 

 examination. Its fauna and flora should be determined for the purpose of discover- 

 ing possible enemies of both adults and larvae. Its bottom, its depth of water at high 

 and at low tide, its available food supply for lobsters, its landing facilities, its accessi- 

 bility for securing supplies — all of these things must be carefully considered if success 

 is to follow the inauguration of any government scheme of tidal enclosures. 



DECREASE OF LOBSTERS. 



Failing adequate means of protection, it looks to-day as if the future plenitude of 

 the lobster were doubtful. The catch in proportion to the men and gear employed in 

 it has been steadily falling off in recent years. The canneries have be3n accepting 

 thousands of " tinkers " or half -grown lobsters, and as long as the canners will buy, 

 the fishermen will continue to catch and sell these immature animals, thus cutting 

 off the supply of full-grown lobsters at its very source. It is, of course, illegal to sell 

 or buy female lobsters with eggs on them; but it is an easy matter for the fishermen 

 to scrape off the eggs. In proportion, therefore, as "tinker" lobsters a-.e destroyed 

 and eggs are removed from the mother animals, in just that proportion will the supply 

 of lobsters be cut off in the future. 



As against this wastage of lobster life the close season counts for something and 

 ?o do the hatcheries, though there is some doubt about this. As a means of replenish- 

 ing our depleted lobster waters, the hatcheries have been long known to bo unsatis- 

 factory. Moreover, the expense of running them is great. The mother lobst t can 

 hatch out a higher percentage of eggs than any artificial hatchery can^ and she ca.i 

 in addition, distribute the young in the sea more widely, more uniformly, and mor(> 

 safely than any employee of a hatchery. 



Why not, therefore, give the mother lobsters a little chance? Let tho Govern- 

 ment extend 'the lobster pond system, and establish a number of sanctuaries; let the 

 fishermen be paid the same price for " berried " lobsters delivered at the sanctuaries 

 .IS for male adults delivered at the canneries; let these mother lobsters remain in 

 the ponds or sanctuaries during the open season and, when the clo e season begins, 

 let them be returned to the sea to hatch out their eggs in their natural way, and it 

 may fairly be claimed that the Government is at least taking one more efficient step 

 towards the protection of the lobster industry. 



THE CEMENT POUND. 



A 5 acre sanctuary — the area at Long Beach — is, however, a pretty large area 

 over which to allow lobsters to roam if they are to be fed regularly, kept under proper 

 observation, and if it is desired to recapture and transport them to some other area 



