722 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



"It is irrefutably a necessity that the time of prohibition should be extended in the fall, when 

 conjugation generally takes place; and also that the minimum size of lobsters allowed to be caught 

 should be so determined that their first spawning be protected. 



"The English Parliament has lately resolved that 8 inches shall be the minimum size, and it 

 would also be well to adopt that as a law with us."* 



NORWAY : REPORT OP PROF. G. O. SARS. Prof. G. O. Sars, one of the best informed of 

 Norwegian authorities on the sea fisheries and a naturalist of the highest standing, whose opinion 

 is worthy of careful consideration, has published the following views respecting the best methods 

 of protecting the lobster industry: 



" The principle which has been followed in framing laws for the better protection of the lobster 

 is the same which forms the basis of all similar protective laws, viz, a desire to let the propagating 

 of the lobster go on as undisturbedly as possible. If one considers what an enormous quantity of 

 roe an adult female lobster carries under her tail, and also that all this roe becomes impreg- 

 nated, and that, consequently, every egg develops into a lobster, it is very natural to suppose 

 that if only a sufficient number of female lobsters could hatch their young undisturbedly, ample 

 compensation would be made for the number of grown lobsters caught every year. It was also 

 very natural to suppose that the decrease in the quantity of lobsters, which had been observed in 

 various places, was caused by catching grown female lobsters during the hatching season. With 

 other fisheries the use of certain fishing implements has proved hurtful to the fish ; but the imple- 

 ments employed in lobster fishing are of such a kind as to preclude this possibility. 



' On general principles, the above mentioned view seems to be entirely justified and logical. 

 There is no doubt but that if the lobster is loft undisturbed during the hatching season a number 

 of young will be produced large enough to compensate, under favorable circumstances, for all the 

 lobsters that are caught. It is, therefore, only right that the lobster should be, as far as possible, 

 protected during the hatching season. It is, likewise, possible that indiscriminate fishing during 

 the hatching season will hinder the increase of the lobsters. It must be remembered, however, 

 that there are many other disturbing causes. I have already, on another occasion, shown that 

 the young lobster, during the earliest period of its life, is exposed to many dangers, and that prob- 

 ably a large number perish, on account of unfavorable influences during their development. If, 

 therefore, in spite of protective measures, a decrease in the quantity of lobsters has been observed 

 in various places, it must not be supposed that the only cause of it is lack of protection or too 

 short a season of protection. The season of protection is, in my opinion, correct on the whole, and 

 if 1 now consider it best to set it a little earlier, viz, to begin the 1st of July, I do this from another 

 reason, that is, out of regard for the shedding of the lobster, which begins during the first days of 

 this mouth. The lobster is, at that time, entirely unfit for transportation, and may die even in the 

 boxes. I believe that if the lobster is thoroughly protected during the months of July and 

 August, there will be some guarantee at least that a sufficient number of young ones will be 

 produced to make up for all losses occasioned by the lobster fisheries during the other months of 

 the year. 



"But no laws and no protective measures can change the unfavorable physical conditions 

 which have caused a decrease of lobsters on certain portions of our coast. The only means to be 

 employed under such circumstances is the artificial raising of lobsters. I shall have occasion to 

 return to this point, and merely to avoid misconception, will say here that I consider a reasonably 

 arranged protection of the lobster not only desirable but also necessary ; but the protective meas- 

 ures should be somewhat uniform in the different districts. At any rate, on that portion of the 



* Report on the Sea Fisheries of the Lan of Goteborg and BohuB in the year 1877, by Gerhard von Yhlen. 



