THE LOBSTER FISHERY. 709 



Merchant states that " in 1818 a man could wade ofi' at low water, at Bass Rocks, Cape Ann, 

 and catch any quantity of lobsters with a common gaff." 



Capt. S. J. Martin says : " One man now, with fifty pots, won't catch over one hundred large 

 lobsters a day ; twenty years ago, with fifty pots, he would catch four hundred lobsters. 



Mr. D. ]$". Mahlman is of the opinion that "a large catch for a man now per day would not be 

 over twenty-five lobsters. Twenty years ago it was one hundred." 



MARBLEHEAD, MASS. Many of the lobster fishermen affirm that lobsters have greatly 

 decreased in abundance during the past few years. 



BOSTON, MASS. The fishermen all report a considerable decrease in the abundance" and size 

 of lobsters, which they say has been going on steadily from year to year. The cause assigned is 

 overfishing. 



Mr. James A. Young says : " For one man, with eighty traps, a large catch now would be 

 three hundred lobsters daily. One man twenty years ago, with thirty traps, would catch the 

 same number, but twice the weight." 



Mr. J. W. Marstou states : " Present catch, one hundred and seventy-five lobsters of market- 

 able size. Twenty years ago, with the same number of traps, the catch would probably have been 

 double." 



According to Mr. G. L. Sampson, of Point Shirley, " one hundred a day of marketable size 

 would be a large catch for a man, while twenty years ago only seventy-five of marketable size 

 would be taken ; but we set more pots now than then." 



Mr. Charles E. Gove, of Nahant, states that "fewer lobsters are caught about here now than 

 was ever known before." 



SCITITATE, MASS. According to Mr. William Bates, the present catch is about two hundred 

 a day; twenty years ago it was four hundred. 



PLYMOUTH, MASS. "A writer in the Boston Transcript says that ' the strange changes in 

 the amount of yearly production of lobsters is very puzzling to fishermen. In Plymouth Bay 

 they used to find good sized lobsters very plenty, while now the production both inside and upon 

 the coast is very much diminished, both in size and numbers. They attribute it partly to the 

 raking of the rocky bottom for Irish moss, which is now carried on to a great extent. By this 

 means the young lobsters are uncovered and often destroyed, as they need the refuge of the moss 

 both for growth and safety.'"* 



Information from the fishermen corroborate the above statement, the lobster fishery at one 

 time having been very extensive. 



BARNSTABLE DISTRICT, MASS. This district, including all of Cape Cod as far south as Fal- 

 mouth and Wood's Holl, was at one time the most important one upon our coast as regards the 

 lobster fishery, but now it is among the least productive. The history and decline of this 

 fishery, especially about Provincetown, has been quite fully treated of in the foregoing historical 

 sketch and in the coast review, but we present below a few additional statements from fishermen 

 and dealers. 



PEOTINCETOWN, MASS. Captain Bowley writes as follows : "For many years lobsters were 

 very plentiful about Provincetowu, and men could anchor in the harbor and catch three hundred 

 or four hundred a day. Thousauds were let out of the cars because they would not bring a cent 

 apiece. Now (1879) seventy or eighty pots can be hauled without obtaining more than eight or 

 ten lobsters daily. The lobster fishermen cannot gain a. livelihood by selling their catch at 7 

 cents apiece." 



* Forest and Stream, vol. iv, 1875. 



