21 



N. S., and resulted in releasing, when the close season 

 commenced, some 50,000 female lobsters which had been 

 secured during the open season. Some of these lobsters 

 spawned whilst in captivity and from this source alone it is 

 estimated millions of young lobsters found their way from the 

 pound to their natural haunts in the sea, and as 10,000 eggs 

 to a lobster is a fair average, it is fully expected that a series 

 of these pounds, together with the good work being done by 

 the Lobster Hatcheries, should not only keep up the present 

 supply, but fully restore this valuable fishery to its original 

 standard. 



Close Seasons for Fish. 



The different close seasons for the various species of fish, 

 with the protection of which this Department is charged, have, 

 generally speaking, been but slightly changed ; but in the 

 case of the Lobster Fishery a complete new code of regulations, 

 establishing seven separate sectional close seasons and three 

 different size limits, in conformity with geographical and other 

 local conditions, was ia 1899 adopted, as the result of a Com- 

 mission appointed in 1898 to inquire into the Canadian lobster 

 industry. 



The following is a table showing the various close seasons 

 for fish in the several Provinces of the Dominion. 



