THE LOBSTEE FISHERY. 707 



merly. A large daily catch for one man now is 400 lobsters ; twenty years ago it was 800 to 

 1 ,000 lobsters. The average daily stock at present is said to be about 200 lobsters. 



OCEANVILLE, DEER ISLE, ME. " Lobsters are very small, scarce, and high. This season 

 will finish them. Three years at the most will close up every lobster factory in the State, if 

 something is not done to protect them. The State law amounts to no protection whatever."* 



SWAN'S ISLAND, CASTINE, ME. In 1855 they used to obtain 200 to 250 lobsters daily from 

 forty pots, the smack-lobsters averaging 3 to 3 pounds each. In 1879 the average catch to forty 

 pots was 75 lobsters, the smack-lobsters averaging 2 pounda each. 



ROCKPORT, ME. Capt. John D. Piper states that lobsters are very much less abundant than 

 formerly. 



NORTH HAVEN, ME. Mr. N. D. Wooster considers that 400 pounds of lobsters is a large 

 daily catch for one man now, while twenty years ago, with the same amount of gear, he could 

 obtain as many as 1,500 pounds in a day. 



MUSCLE RIDGES, ME. Captain Davis, of South Saint George, states that about 1864, when 

 lie began buying lobsters at the Muscle Ridges, three men, tending forty to fifty pots each, caught 

 all the count lobsters he could carry to market in his smack. He averaged a trip in seven to nine 

 days, carrying about 5,000 lobsters in number each trip. These three men would catch lobsters 

 as fast as he could market them, and this state of affairs continued for six or seven years, the lob- 

 sters during this time averaging about 2 pounds each, or a trifle more. At present (1879) Captain 

 Davis takes lobsters in the same locality regularly from fifteen men, tending sixty pots each, and 

 at times has to buy of others in order to make up a load. The lobsters carried by him now average 

 about 2 pounds each. 



BOOTHBAY, ME. The growth of the lobster fishery and the decrease of lobsters in this locality 

 have been discussed above in the historical sketch. The summer lobster fishery of this region is 

 now of comparatively little importance. In some places, as in Boothbay Harbor, a few men con- 

 tinue to catch lobsters through the summer. The greater part of the fishermen, however, stop 

 lobstering in May, or perhaps earlier. 



BATH, ME. Mr. R. E. Earll reports, upon the authority of numerous persons, that, notwith- 

 standing the increased amount of gear at present used by the fishermen, and the additional risks 

 and hardships to which they are subjected, they now find the business far from remunerative; but 

 as most of them have their gear, and can fit out with little expense, they are induced to engage in 

 this fishery during the winter season, as it offers, in many places, the only chance of making a 

 living. At present $75 is considered a fair average profit to a man for the winter season, Novem- 

 ber to April. 



WESTPORT POINT, ME. Mr. Giles R. Gifford says that lobsters are less abundant now than 

 they were in former years. 



GEORGETOWN, ME. One correspondent stated that he had hauled fifty pots for ten lobsters, 

 and thinks one to a trap is a fair average at present, of all sizes. He spent the entire time from 

 September, 1878, to May, 1879, fishing sixty pots, and made only $160, which is, however, much 

 better than most fishermen do in this region. 



SMALL POINT, ME. Lobsters have grown very scarce during late years, and a large share 

 of those taken are unfit for market. The fishery is now carried on by only a few men. 



PORTLAND, ME. Mr. A. L. Johnson writes : "A good catch per day to a man tending fifty 

 pots would number one hundred lobsters ; twenty years ago it would have reached four hundred." 



* Report of Boston Fish Bureau. Monday, May 8, 18ti2. 



