THE LOBSTER FISHERY. 701 



buying lobsters at tbe Muscle Kidges, three men, tending forty to fifty pots each, caught all the 

 count lobsters he could carry to market in his smack. He could load 5,000 lobsters at a time, and 

 averaged a trip in seven to nine days. This traffic continued for six or seven years. In 1879 

 Captain Davis bought from fifteen men in the same locality, and at times was obliged to buy also 

 of others in order to make up a load. 



SOUTH HARPSWELL, ME. Between 1850 and 1855, at South Harpswell, the fishermen were 

 accustomed to go out two in a boat, each boat setting from fifty to seventy-five traps, and obtain- 

 ing a daily average of from 400 to 500 lobsters of marketable size. All lobsters weighing less than 

 2 pounds were thrown away, and the remainder were sold to the canneries at an average price of 3 

 cents each in the spring, and 2 cents each in the fall, the canneries agreeing to take only those 

 above 2 pounds weight. The fishing season lasted from March until May, and again from Septem- 

 ber until about the middle of November. When the factories were closed, the fishermen sold to 

 the smacks running to New York and Boston, scarcely any of the lobsters being disposed of to 

 Portland parties. The smacks paid about the same prices as the canneries, beginning in the early 

 spring at 3| to 4 cents, and falling later as low as 1 cents, when the lobsters had become more 

 abundant. Frequently, wheu the markets were dull, the fishermen, after culling out all lob- 

 sters under 2 pounds in weight, would bring the remainder to the smacks, where about one-third 

 more in number would be rejected, only the larger individuals being bought. This would happen 

 only late in a season, or during a very dull market. Marketable lobsters then averaged about 3 

 pounds each. 



BOOTHBAY, ME. Mr. Emerson McKown, of Southport, says that in 1856 lobsters were found 

 very plentifully and of large size about the islands of Boothbay Harbor. He was then fourteen 

 years old, and engaged in the lobster fishery, setting his pots close to the shore, in from 8 to 11 

 fathoms of water. In the course of two and one-half months (March 1 to May 15) he could easily 

 make $100. In those days the lobsters were sold entirely to the smacks, which carried them to 

 New York. The season lasted six months, from March until the last of May, in the spring, and from 

 about the 1st of September until December, in the fall. During this season one man, tending fifty 

 pots, could make $500, and frequently made more. The price paid by the smacks was 2 to 2 cents 

 each. As the number of lobstermen increased in this region, the lobsters began to decrease both 

 in abundance and size. By 1869 they bad so diminished in numbers that the average income per 

 man for the season of six months was not above $175. This caused tbe fishermen to try further 

 out from land, and in deeper water, and the fishery is now largely carried on iu depths of 25 to 35 

 fathoms, although in the summer the lobsters approach nearer to the land. 



At 'all points along the coast, from Cape Small Point to Pemaqnid Point, the fishermen are 

 agreed in saying that formerly lobsters were very abundant and of large size, and that overfishing 

 has reduced them both in size and in numbers. They are quite unanimous iu the opinion that if 

 the present State law is continued, it will be better for the fishermen. 



MATINICUS, ME. Lobster fishing was introduced at Matinicus Island in 1868. 



NORTH HAVEN, ME. At North Haven the fishing began in 1848, but during that year there 

 was only one man setting traps. The number of lobstermen has, however, rapidly increased since 

 then up to the present time. At first the entire catch was sold to Boston smacks, at the rate of 

 2 to 2 cents each. The largest and smallest lobsters were not taken by the smacks, the former 

 because they were considered not to be able to survive the long trip. Connecticut smacks fol- 

 lowed soon after the Boston smacks, and later on large quantities of lobsters were shipped annually 

 to New York. In 185C or 1857, canning operations were begun on this island, but they were con- 

 tinued only two years at that time. 



