710 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



TRURO, MASS. " It is unusual to get forty lobsters in a day (forty-five traps), but 

 fifteen are often taken." 



YARMOUTH PORT, MASS. Mr. Benjamin Lovell states that "twenty years ago, with half the 

 number of pots, you could catch 5,000 in a week. This season (1880) only about 5,000 have been 

 caught in all." 



WOOD'S HOLL, MASS. According to Mr. V. N. Edwards, "we use teu times as many pots 

 now as formerly, and do not catch as many lobsters." 



EDGARTOWN DISTRICT, MASS. A full account of the history of lobster fishing iu this 

 district is given in the Coast Review, further on. The principal lobster grounds are in Vineyard 

 Sound, and off Gay Head, No Man's Laud, and Cuttyhunk. The fishery began in the vicinity of 

 Gay Head about 1860, but has attained its present proportions only within a few years. It is an 

 interesting fact that, within this period, lobsters have steadily decreased in size and abundance in 

 the upper part of Vineyard Sound, while there has been a proportionate increase in numbers, and 

 the size has remained constant farther out. This apparent change is evidently due to the more 

 recent development of the outer fishery, as the inner grounds became depleted.* 



Mr. F. M. Cottle, of West Tisbury, writes that " the catch is now less, because of the 10^-inch 

 law. There would be no difference, providing the same traps were used without restriction." 



Mr. D. Vincent, of Ghilmark, states : " We probably catch about two-thirds as many as when 

 we first began." 



NEW BEDFORD, MASS. Mr. A. G. Mayhew says that ' the catch is now less than formerly. 

 Twenty years ago a man would average four hundred lobsters a day ; now the average is two 

 hundred a day." 



RHODE ISLAND. Mr. Christian Francis, an intelligent lobster fisherman of Narragansett 

 Bay, states that the season of 1880 was the best he ever experienced in the lobster fishery, 

 although the seasons of 1878 and 1879 were not far behind in the extent of the catch. This 

 increased production resulted from the use of a greater number of pots, as Mr. Francis affirms 

 that there has been a marked decrease in the abundance of lobsters during the past six years. 

 The testimony of many other fishermen was to the same effect, but very few thought that relief 

 could be gained by the enactment of protective laws. At this same period (1880), when the 

 inquiries regarding the lobster industry were being made, the fishermen complained that their 

 fishery was being destroyed by the visits of fishermen from other States, who set more pots than 

 they did, and covered the most of their ground. Since then stringent laws have been passed by 

 the legislature of the State, forbidding the capture of lobsters in the public waters belonging to 

 the State, by fishermen of other States, and also prohibiting the capture and sale of lobsters 

 under 10 inches iu length. 



Mr. J. M. K. Southwick, of Newport, states that there is no doubt but fewer lobsters are taken 

 to a pot now than formerly. He based his conclusions on the statements of many fishermen 

 of the vicinity. 



Dr. Horatio R. Storer, of Newport, has written as follows : " My neighbors here (I live in the 

 midst of the fishermen) are exercised because crews come here from other States, and remain for 

 months at a time, in the spring for lobsters and in the winter for cod, and they think that the 

 lobsters are rapidly decreasing, perhaps, in part, from their own stupidity, for they often break to 

 pieces the small ones to prevent their entering the pots and stealing the bait." 



CONNECTICUT. Most of the lob stermen of Connecticut agree that there has been a decrease 

 in the abundance of lobsters during the past few years, and that the greatly increased catch has 

 been realised only through the use of a much greater number of pots, the number of fishermen 

 * For more recent information respecting this region see page 698. 



