234 NEW ENGLAND FISHERIES 



the number and value of cans of lobsters put up in the 

 State of Maine, in the years 1880, 1889, and 1892. 1 



The lobster fishery was begun many years before the 

 lobster canning industry arose, and has always been of 

 greater importance. The coast of Maine always has been 

 arid is to-day the favorite locality in the United States 

 for the pursuit of the lobster fishery. The present value 

 of the fishery in New England is second only to the oyster 

 fishery. Our account will be largely a sketch of the fishery 

 as carried on in the State of Maine, which represents three- 

 fourths of the New England lobster industry. 



As early as 1830 vessels from Boston and Connecticut 

 visited Harpswell and probably other places in Maine for 

 supplies of fresh lobsters. The industry flourished and in 

 about a decade the carrying trade was begun by a resident 

 of the place, an account of which follows : 



"In 1841, Captain E. M. Oakes began to carry lobsters 

 from Cundy 's Harbor and Horse Island Harbor, Harpswell, 

 to Mr. Eben Weeks, at East Boston. He was then running 

 a well-smack, named the Swampscott, of 41 tons, old 

 measurement. The season extended from the 1st of March 

 until about the 4th of July, after which time the lobsters 

 were supposed to be unfit for eating. The black lobsters, 

 or shedders, were even considered poisonous. During this 

 season of four months, Captain Oakes made ten trips, carry- 

 ing in all 35,000 by count. He continued in this trade 

 about six years, taking the combined catch of about five or 

 six fishermen. At this period the smack Hulda B. Hall, 

 50 tons, of New London, Conn., Captain Chapell, was car- 

 rying lobsters from Cape Porpoise, Gloucester, Ipswich 

 Bay, and occasionally Provincetown, to Boston, making 15 

 trips in the season of four months, and taking about 3,500 

 lobsters each trip. Captain Chapwell was supplied with 



iPart of the lobsters used in the Eastport factories come from 

 New Brunswick. It is impossible to separate the two lots. 



