2352 BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 
divided into two classes—those above 12 inches and those below. I have some 
figures here indicating the decline in the size of the egg-bearing lobsters, and 
with that comes the very important fact that there has been a corresponding 
decrease in the number of eggs laid. In 1905 we found there were 185 lobsters 
over 12 inches long to every 100 under 12. In 1906 this number had declined 
to 133 above 12 inches to every 100 under 12; in 1907 came the very astonishing 
reduction of 39 over 12 inches to every 100 under 12; in 1908 there was some- 
what of a rise, and the number this year was 110 over 12 to every 100 under 12. 
Taking the average of the first two years, we find that the average for 1905-6 
was 159 lobsters over 12 to every 100 under 12; and in 1907-8 this had declined 
to 75 egg-bearing lobsters over 12 to every 100 under 12. 
This seems to me to indicate that we are going at the matter in the wrong 
manner; that the present laws are entirely illogical, and that we are decreasing 
annually the reproductive capacity of the race by destroying the best of the lob- 
sters of reproductive age each year. To meet this situation we are suggesting 
to the legislature of Massachusetts that just as it was responsible for this original 
law, so it should pass another law to remedy the situation. It should consider 
the fact that it is necessary to have a law which will meet the conditions by 
protecting not alone the young lobster before it reaches an age of economic 
importance, but also the adult lobster, which produces the eggs necessary for 
propagation. 
We need to support the work of the Bureau of Fisheries, which for many 
years has been propagating the lobster artificially; the admirable work of the 
Rhode Island commission, and the work of the Maine commission, all of which 
has been on the line of saving the eggs which have been laid. There should be 
some provision made for increasing the number of eggs which are annually 
produced, and it seems that this could best be done by protecting the adults, 
say above 11 or 12 inches long, in such a way that their capture may be 
entirely prevented. We are therefore suggesting that the traps be made with 
a ring 314 or 3% inches in diameter, a size so small that the large lobsters of 
reproductive age can not enter. And thus we will have a law that will enforce 
itself automatically. The traps are to be officially inspected and sealed, and 
these traps must conform to the specifications, and in that way the law could 
be readily and economically enforced. 
