THE LOBSTER FISHERY. 665 



3. APPARATUS AND METHODS OF THE FISHERY. 



THE FISHING APPLIANCES. 



THE LOBSTEB TRAPS. Only two or three different kinds of appliances for taking lobsters 

 have ever come into extensive use in this country, and at the present time the fishermen of all the 

 more important lobster districts have quite universally settled upon the funnel traps as being the 

 most convenient and remunerative. The so-called hoop-pot was, we believe, the earliest contri- 

 vance for catching lobsters, and it is even now used to sTsltght extent on some parts of the coast ; 

 but with the majority of fishermen, especially where the influence of competition has been felt, it 

 has long given way to a closed trap, which permits each fisherman to cover much more ground 

 than forrneily, with considerably less labor. In early times, when lobsters were of more frequent 

 occurrence on the shore, especially on the Maine coast, some lobster fishing in a small way was 

 carried on by means of dip-nets and gaffs. 



HOOP POTS. The hoop pot, which was formerly iu common use in many places when lobsters 

 were more abundant than at present, is very simple in its construction. As used at Provincetown, 

 Mass., fifteen to twenty years ago and earlier, it consisted of a hoop or ring, of about one-half inch 

 round iron, from 3 to 3 or more feet in diameter. To this hoop was attached a shallow net bag 

 as a bottom, while two wooden half hoops were bent above it, crossing at right angles in the center, 

 about 12 to 15 inches above the plane of the hoop. The bait was suspended from the point of 

 crossing of the two wooden hoops, and the line for raising and lowering the pot was attached at 

 the same place. This style of trap required constant watching, and had to be hauled at frequent 

 intervals. It could not be left for a long time, as in the case of the lath or closed pot, at least, 

 not with profit to the owner, for the lobster, as soon as he had finished his repast, could retire at 

 pleasure. 



Capt. N. E. Atwood, of Proviucetown, describes the method of using these pots as follows: 

 " The fisherman would go out perhaps at midnight, anchor his boat near the shore on the edge of 

 the fishing-grounds, and put over his pots, of which he would have about six. At short intervals 

 he would haul them in and remove whatever lobsters they might contain. If lobsters were abun- 

 dant he would be kept busy hauling his pots all the time. By the time he had run through his 

 series of pots once and had pegged the claws of all the lobsters, he would have to begin over 

 again, and thus the night would be spent and he would arrive home about 8 or 9 o'clock in the 

 morning, with 100 or 200 lobsters, more or less. Of late years lobsters have not come here in 

 sufficient abundance for this style of pot, and it has been abandoned." 



At Truro, Cape Cod, where this same kind of pot was also formerly used, the wooden hoops 

 for the attachment of the bait and rope were replaced by several short cords, fastened to the ring 

 at regular intervals and brought together in the center above. 



Prior to the introduction of the lath pot, hoop pots were extensively employed all along 

 the coast. At that time the relative number of lobsters was much greater, and they entered the 

 pots more freely. Many more were then taken to a pot per day than now, and a fisherman could 

 afford to devote his time to constantly tending his pots while they were set. They were gen- 

 erally set during the night or early morning, as lobsters were supposed to feed more at that time 

 than during the day, and they were hauled about every ten or fifteen minutes or half hour. 

 Although the hoop pots have almost entirely gone out of use, we have heard of their being occa 

 sionally employed at different points along the New England coast. They are still used to a slight 

 extent in the crab fishery of the Southern States. 



