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NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



habit to take all the females in berry, either selling them as 

 they were, in the market, the eggs to be used for sauce etc., or 

 else scraping the eggs off. In this way thousands of young, 

 some of which would have grown up to replace the adults taken, 

 were destroyed at one stroke. The evil effects of the destruc- 

 tion of such great numbers soon had its effect in the diminution 

 of the supply, and as a result stringent laws have been passed 

 in several states forbidding the taking of spawn lobsters at any 

 season. 



The question then arises, Is the crab fishery in danger from 

 the same causes? In considering this, it is necessary to admit 

 that very little is as yet accurately known about the spawning 

 period's of the crabs or the length of time they carry their eggs. 



In the article by R. Rathbun 1 it is stated " that at Hampton 

 Va. in 1880 the first spawners were seen by the 1st of March, but 

 they do not usually appear until April. The hight of the spawn- 

 ing season is from May to August, though many spawners are 

 seen as late as November." Also that " Mr R. E. Earll states 

 that about two thirds of the catch during his visit to Charleston 

 in March 1880 were females with bunches of eggs attached. 

 These eggs were still immature, indicating that they would prob- 

 ably not hatch before April or May. Hundreds of thousands of 

 crabs were destroyed with every dozen crabs brought to mar- 

 ket." 



It is also said that the negroes " scrape off the spawn from 

 the females." These statements are apparently meant to apply 

 to the crabs in shallow water. 



However it may be as far south as Charleston, the experiences 

 of the writer in more northern regions were quite different. On a 

 visit to Crisfield Md. in April 1901 the writer questioned the crab 

 fishermen there, and it was shown that very few had ever seen 

 a crab carrying eggs. Statements from fishermen on subjects 

 apart from the mere facts of catching and shipping their product 

 should naturally be received with caution; but it appears prob- 

 able that, should crabs in berry be at all abundant at that 



1 Loc. cit. p, 642. 



