THE LOBSTER FISHERY. 717 



sters are protected the more will they increase in number; and their decrease since 1830 was 

 almost unanimously ascribed to the summer fisheries, which are going on at a time when the 

 lobsters spawn, although the spawning does not occur at the same time in every place. Such 

 a prohibitory law would therefore be of great importance for the lobster-fisheries. It was true 

 that, on the other hand, the trade would be somewhat inconvenienced by such a law, the prices 

 would fall, and it would be necessary to modify the time when fishing should be prohibited, according 

 to different local circumstances. The reports that came in from the other districts likewise 

 favored the prohibition of fishing during the months of July, August, and September, some even 

 advising an extension of this time from May till October. Another agent of an English lobster 

 company, however, warned against any interference by law with this trade, particularly on account 

 of the fishermen, who would not be able to earn their living during a great part of the year. The 

 decrease of the fisheries was, in his opinion, chiefly caused by the fact that fewer men were 

 employed in them, the increase of navigation and the rich herring and mackerel fisheries employing 

 so many men. He supposed, moreover, that a law prohibiting the catching of lobsters during 

 a certain period would not prove beneficial to the lobster trade, but that an undoubtedly more 

 productive fishery during the months when fishing would be allowed would have a very injurious 

 effect on the market. The Bergen Board of Trade were of opinion that such a prohibition, if it 

 did not extend to the mouths of May, June, and July, would not disturb the fisheries in the Bergen 

 district, which are chiefly carried on during these months, but that it would not be advisible to 

 forbid fishing during these months. If it was absolutely necessary to pass some law for the pres- 

 ervation of the lobster, they would advise the Government to take up the old proposition not to 

 catch and sell lobsters measuring less than 8 inches. The governor, of the North Bergen district 

 considered it desirable that the lobsters should be protected from the middle of July till the middle 

 of September. In Romsdal, however, no prohibition was desired between June 15 and September 

 15, since fishing was going on during this very period. As so many different opinions had come 

 from the different parts of the country, and as it seemed desirable to hear the opinion of several 

 naturalists, Professor Rasch was requested by the Government to prepare a law for the preser- 

 vation of the lobster, giving the full reasons for such a law. In his report to the department he 

 first of all gave his view regarding the pairing season, and then regarding the time which elapses 

 between the pairing and the emission of the eggs from the ovary. He found that the pairing 

 season of the lobster extended over a long period of time, viz, from the time it first sheds its shell 

 in September till April or May, but that the embryo does not develop till the heat of summer sets 

 in, no matter whether the spawning has taken place in autumn, winter, or spring. Most of them 

 have their eggs hatched in July and August, and the young lobsters leave their mother from the 

 middle of August to the middle of September. 



" He had found, moreover, that the lobster was capable of propagating before it had reached 

 a length of 8 inches. He would therefore propose 



" SEC. 1. His Majesty may take measures for protecting the lobsters during a continuous 

 period of two to three months annually in every district of the Kingdom, at the request of the 

 respective governors. 



" SEC. 2. The season of protection shall in every case embrace the whole month of August. 



" SEC. 3. The protection may extend both to males and females, or only to the latter. 



" SEC. 4. Whoever catches lobsters, or offers them for sale, during the close season, in the dis- 

 trict or districts where there is such a law, shall pay a fine of 24 cents for every lobster which is 

 caught or offered for sale contrary to the law. 



" SEC. 5. In the district or districts where the protection extends only to the female lobsters, 



