64 DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVAL SERVICE 



8 GEORGE V, A. 1918 



These figures indicate that a much higher percentage of females are berried along 

 the Massachusets coast than in St. Mary's bay or the Bay of Fundy. Inquiries made 

 among the lobster fishermen, both last summer and this, go to show that out of every 

 1,000 to 2,000 adults, only from two to three are found to carry eggs. Is it not time 

 that other statistics besides measurements of length should be collected and published 

 in our annual reports? 



In collecting statistics, the important points are: (a) the relative numbers of 

 males and females caught during a season; (&) the percentage of females that carry 

 mature, or ripe, eggs during the open season; (c) the percentage of females whicK 

 extrude new eggs during July, August, and September; (d) and especially, the pro- 

 portion of these eggs which are fertilized and unfertilized. 



With such statistics before us for a few years we should soon know whether we 

 are making good the wastage of lobsters or not. At present we do not know. In a 

 vague way we conclude that, because millions of newly hatched fry are being plnnted 

 annually in the sea, therefore, we must necessarily be increasing our lobster supply, 

 or, at least, keeping the supply up to the numbers annually trapped by the fishermen. 

 The fallacy of this reasoning is clearly realized by the Shell Fish Commission (1912- 

 13) page 27: " The annual returns, though showing a very large increase in the money 

 value, are really misleading, because, while the supply of lobsters is declining, the 

 price has so materially advanced that the total value is greater to-day than at any 

 previous period." 



The results of all our hatching and all our egg-planting, therefore, has not sufficed 

 to replenish our depleted waters: that they have increased the numbers is pure guess 

 work. The same criticism precisely may fairly be made about rearing the fry. We 

 are working away in the dark, increasing the chances of survival, no doubt, but with- 

 out demonstrable proof of any increase in the numbers of animals which grow to 

 maturity. 



Can we not be a little more accurate in our methods? Let us first of all collect 

 for a few years the statistics for which I am pleading. With these as a basis for com- 

 parison, let us erect, say, fifty enclosures, 20 feet by 20 feet, at a cost not exceeding 

 $200 each, or $10,000 in all. Impound in these during July and August, twenty-five 

 males and twenty-five females — all carefully chosen and fully mature, and I am con- 

 fident that we shall get a very large increase in the number of eggs. And after all, 

 the greatest aid in preventing the extinction of the lobster will be to increase the egg 

 bearers. Mother ocean will feed the fry, if we protect the egg producers. But, if we 

 continue to hatch, as has been done in the past, we never know what increase results 

 from our efforts, but we do know that frequently we are feeding fish. 



Much desirable information can probably be obtained by circularizing canners 

 and fishermen and explaining clearly to them the objects which the department has in 

 view. 



In fact, Mr. W. S. Trask, a canner at Little Eiver gladly gave me such informa- 

 tion as he had at his disposal. From May 10 to June 15 he bought 7,151 adult lobsters 

 from fishermen. He did not take the time (nor did the fishermen) to distinguish males 

 from females, but he was confident from some observations which he had made a few 

 years before, that there were generally more females than males. Out of the 7,151 

 adults which he had purchased, only thirty-five carried eggs, that is, 1 per cent, on the 

 assumption that the sexes are equal in numbers. How can the lobster industry be kept 

 up, if only one mother out of every 100 bears ripe eggs? 



Probably few females are ever sterile. When eggs are not fertilized, one cause 

 will probably be the lack of facilities for mating. This, at least, was apparently the 



Note. — Mention should be made of the information collected by Mr. Halkett at Baker's 

 Pond, C.B.. showins? the relative percentage of males and females there to be about 46 males 

 to 54 females per hundred. 



