THIRTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 203 
waters by the refuse from large factories. Along the Connecti- 
cut shores they are moderately common, while at the eastern 
end of Long Island and in the region of Block Island, the outer 
Elizabeth Islands and Marthas Vineyard they afford a very 
profitable industry. 
The entire coast line of Massachusetts abounds in lobsters, 
wherever the character of the bottom is suited to them; but 
overfishing has nearly depleted some of the shallow-water areas 
which were once prolific, as at Provincetown. The sandy shores 
of New Hampshire furnish only a moderate supply, but on the 
Maine coast they are much more abundant than anywhere to the 
southward, and the yearly fishery greatly exceeds in quantity 
and value those of all the other States combined. This State is 
in fact the main source of supply for all the principal markets 
of the United States. Contrary to the beliet of many persons 
the lobster is not a migratory animal in the common acceptation 
of that term as applied to fishes. On the approach of cold 
weather it leaves the shallow areas near shore, and retreats into 
somewhat deeper water, where the temperature remains milder 
and more uniform during the winter. As the spring advances 
it returns to its summer haunts. These spring and fall migra- 
tions vary as to time and extent on different portions of the 
coast, occurring earlier in the spring and later in the fall at the 
South than at the North. During the summer they often ap- 
proach very close to the beaches, and in some favorable locali- 
ties, especially on the coast of Maine, the traps set for their cap- 
ture become partially uncovered at low water. The more usual 
depths for the summer fishery are, however, those of a few 
fathoms. The winter grounds are in depths of twenty to fifty 
or sixty fathoms, and generally not far from those of the sum- 
mer, especially in regions where the water deepens rapidly. 
In so far as it has been possible to make the observations, it 
is supposed that the different schools of lobsters, if we. can so 
define them, return to about the same shallow places every 
spring, and do not journey northward or southward along the 
coast to any very great extent, although there may be a gradual 
interchange of ground in the course of time. If this supposi- 
tion be correct, as appears most natural, and there are many 
