April 18, 1902.] 



SCIENCE. 



613 



combination, appear to be especially promi- 

 nent: — 



1. A close season (a) for a portion of 

 each year, or ( & ) for a term of years. 



2. The continuance of the present 10|- 

 inch law, under more effective enforce- 

 }iient. 



3. The substitution of a 9-ineli law. 



4. The prohibition of the killing of egg- 

 bearing lobsters. 



, 5. The prohibition of the killing of any 

 female lobsters. 



6. The removal of all restrictions as to 

 catching. 



And finally, as an entirely new proposi- 

 tion, which I personally venture to ad- 

 vance, 



7. The protection of all adult lobsters 

 sbove the breeding age, and the removal 

 of restrictions on the catching of the im- 

 mature which are of satisfactory market- 

 able size. 



A just and adequate law which meets 

 most requirements, wherever identical con- 

 ditions obtain, will increase the chances of 

 securing effective uniform legislation 

 throughout the lobster-producing districts. 



An impartial balancing of the merits 

 and defects of the several propositions is 

 here attempted: 



1. A Close Season. — (a) For a portion 

 of the year. A close season may bring 

 manifest and satisfactory results in cases 

 where the animal is a rapid breeder, or 

 where the young reach maturity in a short 

 time. But a close season is not equally ap- 

 plicable for checking the numerical decline 

 of every, or any particular, animal. This 

 is notably true of the lobster. A close sea- 

 son must fail to bring the expected results, 

 for the reason that the lobster is a slow 

 breeder, laying eggs but once in two years, 

 and carrying these eggs, attached to the 

 modified legs under the abdomen, for ten 

 or eleven months after laying; while the 



young require probably from four to seven 

 years to reach maturity and attain a length 

 of seven to ten inches. 



Finally, the fundamental defect of a 

 close-season law is that it restricts the de- 

 mand but does not adequately and econom- 

 ically increase the supply. 



Aside from the practical difficulties of 

 securing a unifonn close season through- 

 out the lobster range, and enforcing the 

 laws, the value of the close season to the 

 lobster as a race is commensurate with the 

 duration of this close season. The longer 

 it extends, the better for the lobster but 

 the worse for man. The burden upon in- 

 vestments in the lobster fisheries is in- 

 creased. The absence of the lobster from 

 the human food supply is felt by the pub- 

 lic. Yet all tliis is of little avail, for the 

 effects of the close season are not perma- 

 nent. The causes of the decline have not 

 been removed. The lobsters, through a 

 close season, either from one to six months 

 each year, may have a chance to ' catch up,' 

 only to be themselves ' caught up ' with 

 redoubled energy, resulting in a glutted 

 market, and consequent economic waste for 

 a time, with the certainty of a rapid return 

 to the former conditions which made a close 

 season necessary. 



(b) Close season for a term of years. 

 I\Iost of the foregoing statements apply also 

 to a close season for a term of years. The 

 primary inherent defects in the close sea- 

 son are that it does not reach the cause of 

 the decline, and it fails to recognize the 

 fact that the lobster can and should be 

 reckoned as a perennial and perpetual food 

 for man. Human effort can so control 

 conditions that the supply may be large 

 or small. By taking proper measures the 

 lobster supply can be made abundant and 

 continuous, instead of intermittent. 



2 and 3. Continuance of Present Length 

 Laiv or Substitution of Another.— 'Y'he 9- 



