652 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXIII. No. 591. 



discussed. In this connection it is profit- 

 able to' read also the discriminating re- 

 marks of the late Capt. Joseph W. Collins, 

 in 1903.== 



The existing laws for the regulation of 

 the lobster fisheries (see method 1 above) 

 are designed, as we have seen, to shield 

 mainly the young, since they give but par- 

 tial protection to the adult animal, it being 

 illegal to possess, sell or destroy any lobster 

 under nine or ten and one half inches in 

 length, or any female beyond these limits, 

 with external eggs. The larger limit of 

 ten and one half inches is in favor in most 

 of the states. Dr. Field would protect the 

 young up to a certain length, as nine 

 inches,^ permit the capture of all adoles- 

 cents and adults between nine and ten and 

 one half inches, and permanently protect 

 all adults beyond this size. That is, he 

 would reduce the protection afforded the 

 young, but greatly enhance that given to 

 adults. 



I formerly advocated the retention of 

 the ten and one half inch law, and opposed 

 any reduction of this standard, because 

 under the present methods (see No. 1 

 above) this would cut out nearly every 

 vestige of protection afforded adult ani- 

 mals, which, as was pointed out, is very 

 little at best. On the other hand, I am 

 heartily in favor of reducing the legal size- 

 limit of marketable lobsters to nine inches, 

 provided the larger adults are placed in a 

 permanently protected class. 



In dealing with the zoological side of the 

 question the facts which chiefly concern us 

 are: (a) the period of maturity of adult 

 lobsters; (6) the number of eggs borne by 

 the females, or the size of the broods, and 

 (c) the frequency of spawning, or succes- 

 sion of broods. 



' ' Report upon a Convention held at Boston, 

 1903, to secure Better Protection of the Lobster,' 

 Boston, 1904. 



'This in my opinion is much better than his 

 earlier suggestion of six to ten inches. 



I have found that the period of maturity 

 is very variable as regards both age and 

 size, female lobsters coming into the bear- 

 ing condition between the size limits of 

 approximately seven to twelve inches in 

 length. Comparatively few animals lay 

 eggs before reaching a length of nine 

 inches, when their broods are still rela- 

 tively small, while on the other hand the 

 reproductive period is seldom deferred to 

 the eleven- or twelve-inch stage. When 

 ten to ten and one half inches long the 

 female lobster has, as a rule, reached her 

 first reproductive period, and many have 

 carried two or three broods. We thus see 

 why, according to present methods, by 

 simply reducing the legal length-limit, we 

 rob the adult of the very meager protection 

 which it now enjoys. 



The number of eggs produced increases 

 with surprising rapidity from the very be- 

 ginning of sexual maturity, the first batch 

 of eggs being relatively small, whatever the 

 size of the lobster. The average number of 

 eggs produced by lobsters eight inches long 

 is approximately 5,000, at ten inches 10,- 

 000, at twelve inches 20,000, and at four- 

 teen inches nearly 40,000. Out of 532 

 animals examined at the ten-and-one-half- 

 inch stage the smallest, largest and average 

 number of eggs borne were 5,000, 36,000 

 and nearly 13,000. Lobsters fifteen and six- 

 teen inches long have been taken off Cutty- 

 hunk Island in Buzzard's Bay, for the use 

 of the hatchery at Woods Hole, bearing 

 nearly 100,000 eggs, all of which shows how 

 rapidly the value of the lobster as a breeder 

 increases after the nine- or ten-inch length 

 is attained. 



The male lobster matures as early as the 

 female, and possibly somewhat earlier. It 

 is certain that the female lobster may be 

 impregnated at any time, and by more than 

 one male; the sperm, moreover, possesses 

 great vitality. As a rule the female lobster 

 lays her eggs every other year, that is, the 



