. 



683 



THE LOBSTER FISHERY. 



New York on the southern coast of New England, and also makes large shipments to New London 

 and Norwich. 



METHODS OF CARRYING LOBSTERS. Reference has been made above to the methods of 

 carrying lobsters. The well smacks at one time controlled the lobster trade, and on many por- 

 tions of the coast to-day the fishermen are entirely dependent upon them for the disposition of their 

 catch. They probably still carry the larger part of the fresh lobsters marketed. They make 

 regular visits along certain sections of the coast, each smack generally resorting to the same dis- 

 trict during the season, though often going elsewhere if the supply proves insufficient. Some 

 engage both in fishing and carrying, and others in carrying only, and a large proportion remain 

 in the lobster trade only during the principal season. The New York smacks visit the coast of 

 Maine and the vicinity of Martha's Vineyard and Block Island. The Connecticut smacks seldom 

 go beyond the southern coast of New England, and are principally fishermen. The Massachusetts 

 smacks are all fishermen, and remain upon the coast of that State ; while nearly all the Maine 

 smacks are carriers merely, the well smacks running principally from the Maine coast to Portland 

 and Boston, and the dry smacks to the canneries. The carrying capacity of the smacks varies 

 greatly, dependent upon their tonnage. The smacks that supply Portland measure from 14 to 32 

 tons each, and carry from 2,000 to 8,000 lobsters at a trip. They are gone from one to two weeks, 

 according to the weather and abundance of supplies. A New York sloop smack of 42 tons has a 

 carrying capacity of about 20,000 pounds, or between 13,000 and 15,000 lobsters by count. It 

 can carry this amount, however, only during cold weather, and in the summer makes but half fares. 

 During the summer it buys of about ten men at Deer Isle, Me., tending in all 800 pots, and makes 

 a trip about every two weeks. The remainder of the season it makes weekly trips from Cuttyhunk, 

 Mass. 



THE LOSS IN CARRYING. The loss in carrying lobsters in the well smacks is stated to be 

 comparatively slight, during the summer not averaging more than 200 or 300 in a cargo of 5,000, 

 and in cold weather not over 100. It is said that the losses are not due to overcrowding, but to 

 the occasional injuries which the lobsters inflict on one another. 



THE USE OF CARS. The lobster fishermen are all supplied with cars in which they preserve 

 the lobsters taken, awaiting the smacks or an opportunity to carry them in their own boats to the 

 nearest markets. These cars are of small size, but the dealers have much larger ones, according 

 to the extent of their trade. 



LIVE AND BOILED LOBSTERS. Live lobsters are preferred for shipment, and but little boiling 

 for the trade is now done in any of the larger markets outside of Boston. Nearly all the boiled 

 lobsters sold in New York come from Boston, 5 to 10 per cent, of the lobsters received from the 

 latter place being boiled. The Boston boiled lobsters have obtained a good reputation in New York, 

 and are generally preferred to those boiled elsewhere. The demands of the retail trade in New 

 York are, however, mainly for fresh lobsters, and the same is true in most of the other cities. 

 Boiled lobsters are shipped both in barrels and boxes. During warm weather ice is used on the 

 lobsters shipped in barrels, but in the colder months it is dispensed with. Live lobsters ship 

 better than boiled ones in the summer, if freely iced. 



MANNER OF BOILING LOBSTERS. The old style of " set " boilers or " farmer's " boilers, being 

 large iron kettles of various sizes up to a capacity of about CO gallons, were formerly in quite gen- 

 eral use for boiling lobsters for the trade. Even now the same kind of boilers are extensively 

 employed by the smaller dealers all along the coast. In the principal markets, especially Port- 

 land, Boston, and New York, however, new and improved methods have been adopted by the 

 larger dealers, whereby the process of boiling is greatly facilitated. 



