668 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



It has a length of about 5 feet, and is about 2 feet across, that being the diameter of the hoops. 

 The hoops are placed at equal distances apart, and facing one another in such a manner that one 

 hoop supports each end, and the third hoop supports the middle of the pot. One end, constitut- 

 ing the entrance to the pot, is furnished with a funnel leading inward, as in the lath pot, and the 

 second or central hoop also supports a funnel pointing in the same dire.ction. The hinder end of 

 the pot is covered with netting, having a central opening, which can be opened or completely closed 

 by means of a puckering string. The bait is suspended from the central hoop at the mouth of the 

 inner funnel. The lobster enticed into the pot by the bait generally finds its way into the last 

 compartment, where escape is very difficult. It is then easily removed through the opening at 

 the hinder end of the pot. These pots cost about $1.50 apiece. 



THE ENGLISH POTS OR CREELS. In Great Britain, according to Mr. Frank Buckland, " the 

 fishery for crabs and lobsters is conducted in every part of the Kingdom in the same manner. 

 Traps made of wicker-work, or of a wicker frame covered with netting, and usually known as 

 ' pots' or ' creels,' are almost universally used. The pot is baited with some fish, fresh fish 

 being preferred for crabs and stinking fish for lobsters, and sunk in from 3 fathom to 45 fathom 

 water. The crabs or lobsters enter the pot in search of the food through a hole or pipe 4 to 5 

 inches in diameter. * * * In some places as many as one hundred creels, in others as few as 

 twenty, are carried by a single boat." 



" Creels * * * have only recently been introduced into some places. The fishermen used 

 to fish with a much more primitive and less efficacious engine. An iron ring had a small net 

 attached to it in the shape of a purse. The net was baited and let down. The fishermen con- 

 stantly examined the ring to see if there were any fish on it, and the pressure of the water upon 

 the ring while it was being drawn up for examination prevented any lobsters or crabs which hap- 

 pened to have been attracted by the bait from escaping." 



APPLIANCES USED IN NORWAY. Prof. Axel Bosck gives the following account of the appli- 

 ances used for catching lobsters on the coast of Norway : 



" Formerly the lobster was caught on our sea-coasts exclusively with tongs. These tongs 

 were made of wood, and had about the same shape as the common oyster-poles, being only some- 

 what longer, generally 2 fathoms. Such an implement was exhibited at the Bergen Exposition of 

 1865, and an illustration of it is given in the report. As these tongs were not very long, lobsters 

 could not be caught at any great depth only at a depth of little more than a fathom and this 

 sort of fishing was carried on during the early morning hours. But as lobsters taken with these 

 tongs often got hurt, and died two or three days afterwards, because they cannot stand any press- 

 ure, this implement was not suited for those that were to be exported ; and the Dutch, after the 

 peace of Westphalia, when the lobster fisheries began to assume larger dimensions, endeavored to 

 iuduce the fishermen to use other and better implements. Although baskets, through the influ- 

 ence of the Dutch, had thus become common in the neighborhood of Stavanger since 1717, tongs 

 have been frequently used even in our century, and are perhaps in some places used to this day. 

 Kryger, in his report on Ous, in the ' Budstikken ' (a periodical) for 1820, mentions that lobsters 

 were caught there with tongs for home consumption. Farther north tongs seem to have been the 

 common implements for catching lobsters at a much later period ; for, in the quinquennial report 

 of the governor of the Eomsdal district for 1840-'44, it is said that ' lobsters are taken with tongs, 

 baskets not being thought to answer the purpose.' Lobsters were caught with tongs by small 

 boys from ten to fourteen years of age, early in the morning, in calm weather, and, if successful, 

 one night might yield an income of $2.25. Another very simple implement for catching lobsters 

 is spoken of iu the 'Budstikkeu' by Strom, who says that lobsters are taken with a hook fastened 



