THE LOBSTER FISHERY. 661 







2. THE FISHING GROUNDS AND FISHING SEASON. 



EXTENT AND CHARACTEE OF THE GROUNDS. 



LOCATION OF THE GROUNDS. The distribution of lobsters and the depletion of many of the 

 inshore fishing-grounds have been described in Section I of this report. The most southern 

 grounds for lobsters on the coast are a few small banks^ o_r spots located off Atlantic City and 

 Long Branch, which are mainly resorted to by the boat fishermen, and the yearly catch is not 

 large. New York Bay and the waters about Hell Gate furnished a limited fishery at one time, 

 but lobsters have been nearly exterminated there by overfishing and the pollution from factories. 

 They occur and are fished for to a moderate extent on the western part of the Connecticut coast, 

 but toward the eastward become much more abundant and afford a profitable fishery, especially in 

 Block Island Sound and about the eastern end of Long Island. The fisheries of Rhode Island 

 are carried on in some p"arts of Narragansett Bay and in moderate depths of water off the 

 outer coast. The outer Elizabeth Islands, the region about Gay Head, and some localities in 

 Vineyard Sound, Massachusetts, have yielded good fishing for many years, but probably the best 

 grounds on the Massachusetts coast were originally those about the outer end of Cape Cod, in the 

 vicinity of Proviucetown. The history of this region is fully described elsewhere. Good lobster 

 fishing is obtained in many portions of Massachusetts Bay as far north as Cape Ann, but the 

 sandy shores from there to about Biddeford Pool, Maine, are much less prolific than the regions 

 both to the south and north, and comparatively little fishing is done. The coast of Maine fur- 

 nishes the principal lobster fishery of the United States, and good grounds are scattered all the 

 way from Biddeford Pool to near Calais. The lobster production of Maine greatly exceeds in 

 amount and value that of all the other States combined. 



It is difficult to estimate the comparative value of the grounds on different sections of the 

 Maine coast, but some are much more extensive and productive than others. The middle por- 

 tion of the coast, including the Waldoboro, Belfast, and Castine districts, gave the largest 

 results in 1880, and the fishery was more extensive and valuable in the eastern districts than 

 in the western ; but these facts do not necessarily indicate the location of the best grounds. 



EXTENT OF THE GROUNDS. As warm weather advances in the spring, the lobsters approach 

 nearer the land and remain in comparatively shallow water until late in the fall. In the summer 

 months they may often be found close to shore, and, in favorable localities, sometimes come within 

 reach of a dip-net or gaff. During the earlier period of the fishery, especially on the coast of 

 Maine, but also in Massachusetts, it was not unusual for large numbers to be taken with these 

 simple appliances, and the shore fishery gave employment to many boys. At present, however, 

 they are seldom seen in such localities. During the winter the lobsters live in deeper water, not 

 necessarily at a great distance from land, but often in the deep and wide mouths of rivers and 

 bays, which are common on the coast of Maine, and they also remain in the deeper parts of 

 Massachusetts Bay, Vineyard Sound, and Long Island Sound. 



The location of the fishing-grounds, therefore, changes somewhat at different seasons, being 

 nearer the shore in summer and farther off in winter, and there is of course a corresponding 

 change in the depth. The winter fishery is much more difficult than that of the spring, summer, 

 and fall, and is not engaged in to a very great extent. In the Sheepscot River of Maine, which is 

 quite deep, lobsters are caught as far up as Wiscasset Bridge, the traps being shifted out in 

 the winter towards the middle of the river, not far from the summer grounds. With reference to 



