REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



131 



in practically every item. In 1880 the number of lobster fishermen was 

 2,759, divided as follows among the States: Maine 1,843, New Hamp- 

 shire 44, Massachusetts 595, Rhode Island 1:29, Connecticut 148. The 

 increase in 1892 was therefore 914, or .')•"> per cent; the largest advances 

 were in Maine and Connecticut. 



The increase in the investment has been very marked in every State; 

 it rose from $203,903 in 1880 to $659,831 in 1892, the gain being 150 per 

 cent. The number of boats and vessels used advanced from 2,438, 

 valued at $150,537, in 1880, to 3,980, worth $386,880, in 1892; in Maine 

 the increase in this item was from 1,797 to 2,895, and in Massachusetts 

 from 446 to 741. The lobster pots or traps employed in 1880 numbered 

 140,083, valued at $217,242, the increase in 1892 being 43,009, or 31 per 

 cent. 



The output of the New England lobster fishery in 1880 was 19,946,733 

 pounds, valued at $477,484; the catch in 1892 was 3,463,194 pounds 

 larger and $558,107 more valuable, an increase of 17 per cent in quan- 

 tity and 117 per cent in value. 



The increased valuation per pound in 1892 as compared with 1880 

 indicates the condition of the fishery and suggests the actual decline 

 which is not disclosed by the bare figures for the catch. The following 

 table, showing the percentage of increase or decrease in the quantity 

 and value of the yield in the two years named, strikingly illustrates 

 this point. In Maine, while the output increased 23.95 per cent, the 

 value of the catch to the fishermen increased 146.72 per cent. In Massa- 

 chusetts there was a decrease in the quantity of 26.26 per cent, but an 

 increase in the value of 23.42 per cent. Similar noteworthy differences 

 appear for the other States. 



Comparison of the Xew England lobster catch in 1SS0 and 1S92. 



Aii additional evidence of the decline in this fishery is the diminished 

 average catch per man. In 1880 the Maine lobster fishermen took, on 

 an average, during the season 7,723 pounds of lobsters; in 1892 they 

 caught (>,713 pounds. The change in this State has been especially 

 marked since 1889, in which year the average catch per man was 12,019 

 pounds. The average yield in Massachusetts was 7,253 pounds in 1880 

 and 5,105 pounds in 1892. In Khode Island there has been an advance 

 in this respect from an average of 3,281 pounds per man in 1880 to 

 5,33S pounds in 1892. A similar increase has occurred in Connecticut, 

 the average being 4,884 pounds in 1880 and 6,258 pounds in 1892. It 



