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  REPORT 
  OP 
  COMMISSIONER 
  OF 
  FISH 
  AND 
  FISHERIES. 
  

  

  COMMERCIAL 
  VALUE. 
  

  

  The 
  lobster 
  is 
  the 
  most 
  important 
  crustacean 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  States. 
  

   It 
  is 
  the 
  object 
  of 
  a 
  special 
  fishery, 
  carried 
  on 
  with 
  pots 
  or 
  traps, 
  in'all 
  

   the 
  coastal 
  States 
  from 
  Delaware 
  northward, 
  and 
  also 
  in 
  Nova 
  Scotia, 
  

   New 
  Brunswick, 
  Prince 
  Edward 
  Island, 
  Quebec, 
  and 
  Newfoundland. 
  

   In 
  Maine, 
  where 
  tlie 
  fishery 
  is 
  more 
  important 
  than 
  in 
  any 
  other 
  State, 
  

   the 
  lobster 
  is 
  the 
  principal 
  fishery 
  product. 
  In 
  1892 
  over 
  3,500 
  persons 
  

   were 
  engaged 
  in 
  this 
  fishery 
  in 
  the 
  United 
  States; 
  the 
  capital 
  invested 
  

   was 
  about 
  $650,000, 
  and 
  the 
  catch 
  amounted 
  to 
  23,725,000 
  pounds, 
  

   valued 
  at 
  $1,062,000. 
  In 
  1880 
  the 
  yield 
  was 
  but 
  little 
  smaller 
  (20,240,000 
  

   pounds), 
  but 
  the 
  market 
  value 
  was 
  much 
  less, 
  being 
  only 
  $488,000. 
  

  

  Between 
  1889 
  and 
  1892 
  the 
  New 
  England 
  lobster 
  catch 
  decreased 
  

   over 
  7,000,000 
  pounds, 
  or 
  23 
  per 
  cent, 
  while 
  the 
  value 
  increased 
  over 
  

   $200,000, 
  or 
  25 
  per 
  cent. 
  For 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  years 
  this 
  fishery 
  presented 
  

   the 
  anomaly 
  of 
  a 
  diminishing 
  supply 
  and 
  an 
  augmented 
  catch, 
  owing 
  

   to 
  the 
  more 
  active 
  prosecution 
  of 
  the 
  business; 
  but 
  the 
  decline 
  in 
  the 
  

   yield 
  has 
  for 
  some 
  time 
  been 
  unchecked, 
  notwithstanding 
  the 
  employ- 
  

   ment 
  of 
  more 
  apparatus 
  and 
  the 
  prolongation 
  of 
  the 
  fishing 
  season. 
  

   With 
  a 
  singular 
  disregard 
  for 
  their 
  own 
  welfare, 
  many 
  fishermen 
  have 
  

   continually 
  violated 
  the 
  State 
  laws 
  for 
  the 
  protection 
  of 
  small, 
  imma- 
  

   ture 
  lobsters 
  and 
  females 
  bearing 
  eggs. 
  Only 
  the 
  rigid 
  enforcement 
  of 
  

   restrictive 
  measures 
  by 
  the 
  States 
  and 
  the 
  extensive 
  artificial 
  propaga- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  the 
  lobster 
  can 
  ward 
  off 
  the 
  destruction 
  which 
  threatens 
  this 
  

   valuable 
  fishery. 
  

  

  INCEPTION 
  AND 
  PROGRESS 
  OF 
  LOBSTER-CULTURE. 
  

  

  If 
  egg-bearing 
  lobsters 
  were 
  not 
  liable 
  to 
  destruction 
  by 
  man, 
  arti- 
  

   ficial 
  propagation 
  would 
  hardly 
  be 
  necessary. 
  Notwithstanding 
  the 
  

   enactment 
  of 
  stringent 
  laws 
  prohibiting 
  the 
  sale 
  of 
  " 
  berried 
  " 
  lobsters, 
  

   the 
  frequent 
  sacrifice 
  of 
  such 
  lobsters, 
  with 
  their 
  eggs, 
  and 
  of 
  many 
  

   immature 
  lobsters, 
  has 
  seriously 
  reduced 
  the 
  lobster 
  output 
  and 
  rendered 
  

   active 
  and 
  stringent 
  measures 
  imperative. 
  By 
  the 
  present 
  methods 
  

   millions 
  of 
  lobster 
  eggs 
  are 
  annually 
  taken 
  and 
  hatched 
  that 
  would 
  be 
  

   lost, 
  and 
  the 
  females 
  producing 
  them, 
  amounting 
  to 
  several 
  thousands, 
  

   are 
  liberated. 
  

  

  Prior 
  to 
  1885 
  experiments 
  had 
  been 
  conducted 
  at 
  various 
  points 
  look- 
  

   ing 
  to 
  the 
  artificial 
  propagation 
  of 
  the 
  lobster. 
  The 
  only 
  practical 
  

   attempts 
  of 
  this 
  nature 
  previous 
  to 
  those 
  made 
  by 
  the 
  Fish 
  Commission 
  

   were 
  by 
  means 
  of 
  " 
  parking," 
  that 
  is, 
  holding 
  in 
  large 
  naturally 
  inclosed 
  

   basins 
  lobsters 
  that 
  had 
  been 
  injured, 
  soft-shelled 
  ones, 
  and 
  those 
  below 
  

   marketable 
  size. 
  Occasionally 
  female 
  lobsters 
  with 
  spawn 
  were 
  placed 
  

   in 
  the 
  same 
  inclosures. 
  One 
  of 
  these 
  parks 
  was 
  established 
  in 
  Massa- 
  

   chusetts 
  in 
  1872, 
  but 
  was 
  afterward 
  abandoned 
  ; 
  another 
  was 
  established 
  

   on 
  the 
  coast 
  of 
  Maine 
  about 
  1880. 
  It 
  was 
  soon 
  demonstrated, 
  however, 
  

   that 
  the 
  results 
  from 
  inclosures 
  of 
  this 
  character, 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  the 
  rearing 
  

   of 
  the 
  lobsters 
  from 
  the 
  young 
  were 
  concerned, 
  would 
  not 
  be 
  sufficient 
  

   to 
  materially 
  affect 
  the 
  general 
  supply. 
  

  

  