﻿CXL 
  REPORT 
  OF 
  COMMISSIONER 
  OF 
  FISH 
  AND 
  FISHERIES. 
  

  

  ments 
  were 
  continued 
  for 
  seven 
  days 
  in 
  June. 
  During 
  that 
  time 
  the 
  traps 
  

   were 
  set 
  once 
  or 
  twice 
  daily 
  in 
  water 
  from 
  18 
  to 
  125 
  feet 
  deep, 
  on 
  rocky 
  

   and 
  sandy 
  bottoms, 
  at 
  distances 
  from 
  the 
  shore 
  varying 
  from 
  100 
  feet 
  

   to 
  IJ 
  miles. 
  The 
  ground 
  covered 
  was 
  from 
  one-half 
  mile 
  off 
  Pacific 
  Grove 
  

   to 
  the 
  Hotel 
  Del 
  Monte 
  wharf. 
  The 
  conditions 
  seemed 
  favorable 
  for 
  

   the 
  existence 
  of 
  lobsters, 
  the 
  bottom 
  consisting 
  of 
  rocky 
  ledges, 
  loose 
  

   rocky 
  patches, 
  and 
  hard 
  sand, 
  with 
  giant 
  kelp 
  and 
  other 
  vegetation. 
  

   Sometimes 
  the 
  traps 
  were 
  left 
  down 
  24 
  hours 
  ; 
  sometimes 
  they 
  were 
  lifted 
  

   in 
  7 
  to 
  12 
  hours. 
  The 
  results, 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  lobsters 
  were 
  concerned, 
  were 
  

   entirely 
  negative. 
  Sometimes 
  the 
  traps 
  were 
  empty, 
  with 
  bait 
  unmo- 
  

   lested; 
  sometimes 
  the 
  bait 
  would 
  be 
  taken, 
  with 
  no 
  clew 
  to 
  the 
  animal 
  

   removing 
  it; 
  but 
  generally 
  the 
  traps 
  contained 
  starfish, 
  rock-crabs, 
  and 
  

   spider-crabs, 
  often 
  in 
  large 
  numbers. 
  On 
  one 
  occasion 
  a 
  trap 
  was 
  com- 
  

   pletely 
  filled 
  by 
  an 
  octopus, 
  which 
  had 
  insinuated 
  its 
  body 
  between 
  the 
  

   slats 
  and 
  whose 
  arms 
  projected 
  from 
  the 
  sides 
  of 
  the 
  trap. 
  

  

  As 
  much 
  time 
  was 
  given 
  to 
  the 
  experiment 
  as 
  could 
  then 
  be 
  properly 
  

   devoted 
  to 
  it, 
  but 
  the 
  trials 
  should 
  be 
  continued 
  with 
  more 
  traps 
  and 
  

   in 
  other 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  bay 
  before 
  the 
  absence 
  of 
  lobsters 
  is 
  conceded. 
  No 
  

   evidence 
  of 
  the 
  presence 
  or 
  absence 
  of 
  lobsters 
  in 
  the 
  region 
  may 
  be 
  

   expected 
  of 
  the 
  fishermen, 
  as 
  they 
  set 
  no 
  apparatus 
  in 
  which 
  a 
  lobster 
  

   is 
  apt 
  to 
  be 
  caught. 
  

  

  Several 
  other 
  reports 
  of 
  the 
  capture 
  of 
  lobsters 
  in 
  Monterey 
  Bay 
  have 
  

   been 
  made 
  to 
  the 
  writer. 
  Mr. 
  E. 
  Duarte, 
  a 
  fish-dealer 
  of 
  Monterey, 
  states 
  

   that 
  about 
  January, 
  1896, 
  while 
  in 
  the 
  Chinese 
  village 
  near 
  Monterey, 
  he 
  

   saw 
  a 
  large 
  lobster 
  that 
  a 
  Chinese 
  fisherman 
  had 
  snagged 
  on 
  a 
  trawl 
  line. 
  

   He 
  engaged 
  to 
  take 
  it 
  for 
  25 
  cents, 
  but 
  during 
  a 
  short 
  absence 
  the 
  China 
  

   man 
  became 
  suspicious 
  that 
  it 
  was 
  unlawful 
  to 
  sell 
  it 
  and 
  made 
  away 
  

   with 
  it. 
  It 
  weighed 
  between 
  5 
  and 
  7 
  pounds, 
  and 
  Mr, 
  Duarte 
  is 
  con- 
  

   fident 
  it 
  was 
  an 
  eastern 
  lobster. 
  No 
  spiny 
  lobsters 
  are 
  caught 
  here. 
  

   Mr. 
  James 
  McMann, 
  superintendent 
  of 
  a 
  fish-cannery 
  at 
  San 
  Pedro 
  

   and 
  formerly 
  of 
  Maine, 
  states 
  that 
  in 
  1893 
  he 
  saw 
  a 
  lobster 
  at 
  Monterey 
  

   that 
  he 
  is 
  confident 
  was 
  a 
  genuine 
  eastern 
  lobster; 
  it 
  was 
  6 
  inches 
  long. 
  

  

  Inquiries 
  relative 
  to 
  the 
  lobsters 
  planted 
  otf 
  the 
  Oregon 
  and 
  Wash- 
  

   ington 
  coasts 
  elicited 
  only 
  negative 
  information. 
  

  

  In 
  July, 
  1896, 
  the 
  Canadian 
  Fisheries 
  Department 
  had 
  a 
  consign- 
  

   ment 
  of 
  eastern 
  lobsters 
  planted 
  on 
  the 
  coast 
  of 
  British 
  Columbia. 
  

   The 
  shipment 
  was 
  in 
  charge 
  of 
  Mr. 
  C. 
  A. 
  Stayner, 
  inspector 
  of 
  lobster 
  

   fisheries, 
  and 
  consisted 
  of 
  600 
  adults 
  and 
  2,000,000 
  eggs; 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  

   lobsters 
  weighed 
  10 
  pounds. 
  All 
  but 
  196 
  died 
  in 
  transit; 
  the 
  survivors 
  

   were 
  deposited 
  in 
  deep 
  water 
  at 
  Nanaimo, 
  Vancouver 
  Island, 
  on 
  the 
  

   Strait 
  of 
  Georgia, 
  the 
  eggs 
  being 
  planted 
  near 
  Vancouver, 
  on 
  the 
  

   mainland. 
  Mr. 
  Stayner 
  reports 
  that 
  about 
  September 
  1 
  a 
  lobster 
  was 
  

   caught 
  at 
  Victoria 
  and 
  fully 
  identified. 
  Victoria 
  is 
  on 
  Fuca 
  Strait, 
  on 
  

   the 
  southern 
  side 
  of 
  Vancouver 
  Island, 
  and 
  about 
  80 
  miles 
  from 
  Nanaimo. 
  

   The 
  opinion 
  of 
  the 
  local 
  government 
  fishery 
  inspector 
  is 
  that 
  the 
  lobster 
  

   was 
  a 
  representative 
  of 
  plants 
  made 
  by 
  this 
  Commission 
  in 
  Puget 
  Sound 
  

   in 
  1889, 
  but 
  the 
  matter 
  can 
  not 
  be 
  definitely 
  decided. 
  

  

  