Jan. 20j 1887.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



809 



the duties pertaildng to the office-i with What result I hei-eby 

 s-uhmit, 



"To my sui'prise. I found the lobstei* had no friends- on the. 

 contrary, many enemies. The siippl y vras liaudled as though 

 ineshaustihle. although the decreasing size, weight and 

 numbers, phdnly told the tale of a rapid extinction. A lob- 

 ster weighing ilbs. wa.s the exception and several barrels 

 would be ransacked before one could be found. To be sure 

 now and then a veiy large one would be found, but they were 

 of rare occurrence. 



"The lobster is of slow growth and has many natural 

 enemies besides man, and, as stated by our best naturalists, 

 is five years in arriving at the procreative ;iye. and is then 

 barely Vowin. in length — the minimum of size, if this lO^-^in. 

 Jaweoald be rigidly" enforced, together mtb a clo.«e season of 

 six weeMs (the same as Maine has on its statutes) say from 

 Aug. 15 until Oct, 1; we might again find the lob.ster com- 

 paratively plentiful along our coast, During the time men- 

 tioned tor a close seasui) the lobster is shetltling hi.s shell and 

 recovering from the consequent exhaustion; is very milch like 

 a moulting fowl, uniit for food, sick and of little commercial 

 valilc. I think the majority of the do."tlei's are in favor of a 

 close season, but what part of the year tliat season should be 

 is a mooted ciuestion with them. 



"The value of the lobster comm ercially considered is about 

 6300,000 in Boston alone annually, and about fTS.OOO in the 

 State outside of Boston— say, $3*'5,000 in the Commonwealth. 

 This suggests that the crustacean is of consequence enough 

 for some si^ecial pi-otection. Furthermore, .should the 

 wanton destruction of tlie past few years continue, there 

 will be but fev\' remaining to protect, and Avitliin ten years 

 this once cheap, ready-to-hand cooked dish of the poor man, 

 can only be had at a higli fnic(> and brought from a distance 

 beyond this Coramenwealth, ubtaiiuible only a-s a luxury. I 

 Would suggest the legal length of the lobster be made llin., 

 for the lobster of lO'.iin., weighing say three-quarters of a 

 pound, will u]3rjn sliedding its .shell that season increase in 

 most instances to the length of to l^in.— sometiun^s more 

 —and almost double its weight. Most of the .spawning lob- 

 sters are Uin ■. and over in length, very few as short as lO.ts'in, ; 

 one more season would almost double the lobster individually 

 and gi^ e a larger number for spawning purposes, 



"I think the inclination of the lish('rn:ien is for ob.servance 

 of the laws, but so long as they are enforced by no one it is 

 perfectly natural they should become careless, bold and 

 finally defiant. The past year through my instrumentality 

 there have been tweh-e arrests for non-observance of the laws 

 and all brought to trial. Two pled guilty (one to two offenses) 

 and paid their fines: nine were found guilty after trials in 

 the lower court, and appealing to the upper court, one then 

 paid fine rather than stand trial. Another case was ^von and 

 has gone to the Supreme Court on cpxestions of law; the other 

 cases bein.g continued, awaiting final decision in this ease. 



"I would .suggest the convening of Commissiouers from 

 all the New England States to formulate nnifonn laws forthe 

 protection of the lobster along our entire coasts, and a con- 

 certed action for the enforcement in" laws so enacted. Until 

 this is done we shall sec this valuable crustacean, gradually 

 in some places, rapidly in others, pass from our tables and 

 sight, but never from the memory of those who appreciate 

 them as they should be appreciated." 



IT. S. Commission, Fish and Fishjekies, i 

 Washington, Dec. 4, f 

 Mcssr.'. StUirrll and Stanley, Fish CommUsioneri^ of Maine: 



Gektlemen' I\[y attention has been esjjecially 'directed 

 the past season to the subject of the lobsteTs on the New 

 England coast, and I have received from numerous pai'ties 

 the'assurance that unless something be done to regulate this 

 branch of industry, it will before long become practically 

 worthless. I have been told by many reliable persons, that 

 not only has the size greatly chminished, but that the num- 

 bers taken are much fewer than formerly. In view of the 

 extension of the lobster fisheries within a few years past, 

 principally for the purpose of canning, this result was not 

 unexpectecl, although it seems to have come at an earlier 

 period than was anticipated. 



With a \ie.w of securing for you the most reliable informa- 

 tion in regard to this species, I beg to append herewith a 

 paper written at my reciuest by Mr. Sidney I. Smith, of Yale 

 College, isew Haven, Avhois our best .specialist in reference 

 to the American crustaceavUS and who spea-ks ciuite by author- 

 ity in all that he states. 



It is for yourself to judge how far the reasoning therein 

 presented will render special legislation expedient for the 

 State of Maine. 



At present til ere appefirs to be no possible remedy beyond 

 that of restricting the catCn for a greater or less period of 

 time, and unless this be done it is mo.st probable that the 

 diminution will continue at an alarming rate. 



The most simple law would be one absolutely prohibiting 

 for a certain time the captui-e of lobsters, whether for im- 

 mediate sale or for canning, making the penalty sufficiently 

 severe to deter those who may be so inclined from violating 

 it. If the mouths of July and August were named as this 

 period of prohibition, it would .go far to secui'e the needed 

 protection, perhaps cover the most critical portion of the 

 spawning season. 



It is not sufficient simply to protect the female or those 

 that have eggs, but the prohihition of capture should extend 

 to both sexes. Very respectfully, 



Spencer F. Baird, Fish Commisaioner. 



NOTE CM THE LOBSTER, BY PROF. S. 1. SMITH. 



The American lobster is found upon the Atlantic coast, 

 from New Jersey to Labi'ador, and yet almost nothing has 

 been published n \ regard to its traits and local distribtttion. 

 It lives upon rocky, gravelly and sandy Ijottom, from low 

 water down to twenty or thirty fathoms and perhaps deeper, 

 hut not probably at great depths. It feeds upon any kind of 

 animal matter, either fresh or decaying, which it 'can di.s- 

 oover. 



In Long Island Sound the lobster fishing begins late in 

 March or early in April, and continues till late in the fall, 

 although the greater part are taken in May and June. On 

 the coast of northern Massachusetts and Maine, when the 

 winter supply comes, they may be taken nearly all the year 

 roimd. Capt. N, E. Atwood, vs-riting in 1886,' says they do 

 not come into shallow water about Provinceto^vn, Mass. , till 

 Juno, and remain till October, when they clisapi)ear fi-om 

 near the shore. He also says that north " of Cape Cod the 

 male lobsters are more abundant than the fenntle. while 

 south of the Cape the reA'exse is true. As far however, as I 

 have myself observed along Long Island Sound and Vine- 

 yard Sound, at Portland and Ehstport, Me., the sexes are 

 taken in about ec[ual numbers. As this is a question of con- 

 siderable interest, it may be remarked that the sexes can be 

 readily distinguished by the little appendages upon the 

 under side of first ring of the tail. These are stout, stiff, 

 horny and grooved on the inside toward the tips in the male, 

 while in the female they are smaller, slender, soft and flex- 

 ible: moreover, the genital orifices in the male are on the 

 inside of the basal joint of each of the hind pair of body legs, 

 while in the females they are situated in similar places upon 

 the third pair, or hinder of the piucher-like legs. 



In attempting to suggest means for preventing the ex- 

 haustion ot the lobster li.sheries, the time of spawfdng and 

 the development of the young become matters of great im- 

 portance. The time at v\'hieh the females carry e.ggs varies 

 very much on different parts of the coa.st, being later and 

 later as we go further north. South of Cape Cod, in Long 

 Island and Vineyard Sounds, they are found carrying eggs 

 from the first of April till late in Jtine. At Portland^ Me., 

 hey were carrying eggs till the middle of August, while in 



the Bay of Fundy they are found with eggs from midsummer 

 till September. More exact information on this point is vciy 

 desirable, although this is enough to show that the period of 

 can'ying eggs covers the time during which a great part of 

 the lobsters'are taken for the market, 



Soon after the hatching, the j^oung leave their parent and 

 live for a consiclerable period a very different life from the 

 adult. At first they are not more than a third of an inch 

 long, and have scarcely any resemblance to a lobster. They 

 are furnished with long swimming branches to the legs and 

 swim about freely in the water, living most of the time near 

 the surface of the water, like many kmds of fi-ee swimming 

 shrimps. With each change of tlie skin they become niore 

 and more loKster like, until when a little more than half .an 

 inch long thev appear like veritable little lobsters, but still 

 have the free-s-R-imming liabits of the earlier stages. During 

 this period, which must be several weeks, they are constantly 

 exposed to the attacks of fishes and all sorts of marine 

 aru^nals, while they themselves pursue and feed upon still 

 smaller fry. Any 'attempt to rear great numbers through 

 these stages in confined areas would probably prove unstic- 

 cessful, as the young at this time require a .great .-imonnt of 

 pttre sea-water and peculiar food, fotmd only where juinute, 

 free-smmmiUg animals congregate. 



After they liecome a few inches long, the growth of lob- 

 .sters is very slow. They increase in size only at the times of 

 shedding the shell, which probably takes piace only once a 

 year for those of ordinary size, and the increase at each of 

 these changes is very small, as may be seen by comparing 

 the size of the east shell with the lobster a few days after 

 lea^^ng it. In lobsters of very large size the shell is not al- 

 ways changed even as often as once a year. 



How early they begin to bi'eed is 'somewhat uncertain. 

 Females not more than half a pound in weight ai-c, ho^v- 

 over, fotmd cai-r:^nng eggs, but in these small females the 

 eggs are comparatiA^ely few in nitmber. The average weight 

 of loljsters sold in New Haven market is about two pounds. 



It will readily be seen that any close time which should 

 cover the entire" period of spa%vning would stop the lobster 

 fishing during the height of the season, when nearly all the 

 pi'oflt is derived from the business. During the hotte.st 

 weather of midsummer, vast numbers die while being mar- 

 keted. Preventing their captm-e at this time would un- 

 doubtedly, after a few years, have a marked effect upon the 

 supply during other parts of the season, 



rProm Report of tlie Maine Commissioners of Fisheries and Game, 

 1886.1 



The lobster is an important branch of the Maine fisheries. 

 There are in this State some forty lobster and sardine can- 

 ning factories. O f this number about two-thirds can lobsters 

 and one-third can lobsters and sardines. Only about one- 

 half of the lobster factories did any canning the past season. 

 It takes about five or six of the small lobsters from 9in. or 

 less to make one can. It is seldom that the factories can any 

 lobsters over 9in. long, as those lOMin. in length are shipped 

 to Portland, Boston and New York. 



I have been unable to ascertain the number of lobsters 

 canned. It is a very large omount, and a large number of 

 small lobsters are lised for that purpose. 



The f oUomng notes from the experiments by Prof. Richard 

 Rathburn of the Smithsonian Instittitemll prove of interest 

 in connection with this subject. The experiments were 

 begun in 1886 and form part of the work of the United 

 States Fish Commission. They are at present incomplete, 

 but advance sheets were kindly furnished the Commis- 

 sioners. 



"All the States interested in the lobster fishery, excepting 

 New Jersey, whose fishery is .small, have enacted protective 

 laws: but," either because these laws are inadec[uate or are 

 not propeiiy enforced, they have failed to stop the decrease, 

 though they may have checked it more or less. As a result, 

 the fishery is falling off in the Fruited States, and we are 

 even now dependent, to a greater or less extent, on the 

 British Provinces for the supplies of our larger markets. 

 The same trouble exists in Etu'ope, where the lobster fishery 

 is, of cottrse, of much older date than in this country, and 

 where it has been controlled by legislation for many years. 

 Many elaborate reports have been published upon the 

 European fishery by experts appointed to inve,stigate its 

 condition and needs, but they are apparently at as much 

 loss there as we are here regarding the methods and benefits 

 of protection. In Norway, which country possesses the 

 most important European fishery, they have, as a last resort, 

 sought relief through the aid of artificial lobster culture, 

 and~experinients to that end have been can.'ied on for several 

 years. In the United States, Avhere the methods of fishcul- 

 ture are best understood and have been most productive of 

 beneficial results, it is natural to suppose that the same 

 course would have been often suggested, and such has really 

 been the case. None of the trials up to this year have, how- 

 ever, been made according to the most approved methods of 

 fish propatjation, and insufficient means for cai'r>'ing on any 

 such practical experiments with respect to salt-water sioecies 

 of fish have alone prevented the Fish Commission from en- 

 gaging in this woi'k; before." 



it would be impossible, within the limits of this paj)er, to 

 cite even a portion of the evidence bearing upoti the decrease 

 of lobsters which has been collected, but following are a few 

 of the remarks with which this subject is introduced in the 

 repoi-t referred to: 



"An illustration of the rapidity with which the lobsters 

 of a small area may be caught up, is furnished by a salt- 

 water inlet on the coast of Maine, m which lobsters were at 

 one time very abtindant. The basin opens directly into the 

 sea, and is sufficiently large to have afforded a remunerative 

 fishery to several lobstermen. Two years' time w^as sitfficient 

 to reduce the suj^ply of lobsters to such an extent that fishing 

 became tmprofltable. After an inteiwal of about five years 

 they again became abundant, and the supply was once inore 

 exhausted. Had this inlet not been so sitnated that it read- 

 ily received supplies from withoitt, it is probable that it 

 would have required a much longer time to become replen- 

 ished. On the coast of Maine the evidences of decrease are 

 very .strong, especially as regards the shallower areas, but 

 the rapid extension of the grounds into comparatively deep 

 w-ater has made the actual decrease less apparent. The 

 rocky Ijottoms of Maine ai-e also supposed to afford the lob- 

 sters' greater protection than the sandy ones to the south, 

 and in many places the traps cannot be set as closely to- 

 gether, nor is it probable that the lobsters in such localities 

 move about as much in search of food. 



"The greatest decrease has occurred within the past fifteen 

 or twenty years or since the establishment of numerous can- 

 neries aiid of the perfected methods of transporting fresh 

 lobsters to all parts of the country. The demand being so 

 jnuch greater than the supxily, there are no restrictions on 

 the amount of the catch beyond those imposed by the State 

 laws or resulting from the scarcity of lobsters. Fish are 

 among the greatest enemies of the lobster, and cod are 

 known to consume enormous quantities; but nature has 

 provided against their extinction by such means, and it is 

 man alone AA'ho has disturbed the balance. 



"The above remarks were based mainly upon the fishery 

 investigations of 188^), since which evidences of coiitinuea 

 decrease have been constantly received. About a year ago, 

 a prominent Boston dealer wrote that he was receiving large 

 quantities of lobsters from Nova Scotia, as the Maine fishery 

 was totally inadequate to supplj' the demand, the amount 

 obtained from the State having been less than in previous 

 years. 



"One of the strongest evidences of decrease in abundance 

 is aft'orded by the continuous decrease in the average size of 

 the lobsters sent to the maTkecs. The exact amount of this 



decrease is not detenninable, as no records bearing ui)on this 

 subject were made pirior to 1880, but the fact was granted by 

 the fishermen and c.aunors, even in tho.se regions where a 

 [jerceptible tlecrease in numbers was not admitted. The 

 average vveiuht of the lobsters marketed in most places in. 

 1880 was estimated to lie about 3lbs. each. A New Haven 

 correspondent .stated that the average length of the lob.sters 

 sold ill the markets in that jjlace was about lOljiT),, and the 

 average weight about 31bs., against an average length of 

 about 13in. and an average weight of about 3};ribs. twenty 

 years ago. In Boston the market lobsters ranged but little 

 above the limit in .size permitted by the State laws, and t/hat 

 seems to be the case nearly everywhere. In Portland, Maine, 

 the average length of the lobsters marketed in 1880 was 

 about 10>dn., and in Bo.ston 11 to 11^ sin., while in New York 

 citv the range in size was from lOV'. to b5in. 



Tlie facts above .stated apply only to the larger distribut- 

 ing centers, \\ here custom had prescribed the minimum limit 

 in size of the lob.sters nmrketed, before protective laws were 

 enacted. At that time there was an abundance of Large lob- 

 sters, and the smaller individuals wei*e regarded as of little 

 account for the fresh trade. They have, however, been u.sed 

 for a long time Ijy the canneries on the coast of Maine, by the 

 fishei-men as bait, and to sttpply local demands. The quan- 

 tity of lobsters consumed, measuring less than ten inches in 

 length, is, therefore, very great, and on some portions of the 

 Maine coast the canneries inake use of only those that are 

 too small for the fresh-market trade. Tu fact, the greater 

 proi'jortion of thelob.sters now canned ime less than ten inches 

 long. From these statements it will be seen that there is a 

 steady demand for lobsters of all sizes, and that but a 

 limited protection is afforded either by laws or custom. 



"Lobsters are found with spawn attached to the abdomen 

 during the entire year. This fact is recorded of both the 

 American £fflcl the Etu-opean .species, but the length of time 

 they are carried before hatching and the limits of the hatch- 

 ing season are not precisely known. As regards the European 

 crayfish, a fi-esh-water crustacean closely related to the 

 lobster, Professor Huxley states: 'The process of develop- 

 ment is very slow, as it occupies the whole winter. In late 

 springtime or early summer, the young burst the thin shell 

 of the egg, and, when they are hatched, present a general 

 resen djlance to their parents. This is very unlike what takes 

 jdace in crabs and lobstei'Sj in which the young leave the 

 egg in a condition very diff'erent from the parent, and 

 undergo a remarkable metamorphosis before they attain 

 their proper form.' 



"The smackmen of the southem New England coast claim 

 that the eggs hatch in the wells of their smacks in the great- 

 est abundance, from some time in May until late in Jul 5^, 

 but that at other seasons they have never seen any embryo 

 lobsters, although the smack trade in lob.sters is kept up 

 during nearly the entire year. During the season mentioned, 

 the surface of the water in the wells of the smacks often 

 becomes perfectly alive with the young, and they may be 

 scooped up by the hundreds of thousands. This evidence 

 is tolerably conclu.sive as to the duration of the principal 

 hatching season, and determines the period when experi- 

 mental work in artificial propagation can best be undertaken. 

 The fact that a few of the eggs contained in the jars at the 

 Wood's Holl station of the Fish Commis.sion hatched during 

 November of this year indicates, however, that some hatch- 

 ing may take place at other season.s as the conditions under 

 which the eggs were kept were perfectly normal, the water 

 being of about the same temperatui-e as that of the harbor 

 out.side. Hatching is supposed to begin somewhat later 

 further north. 



"The writer was at first inclined to believe that the hatch- 

 ing continued to a considerable extent through the entire 

 year, ba.sing his conclusions upon the fact that, during the 

 months of August and September last, eggs were found in 

 various stages of developmentj from the freshly laid and 

 totally opaque ones to others m which the dark greenish 

 yelk sack occupied scarcely more than one-half of the area 

 of the egg, the remainder being transparent and clearly 

 showing the structure of the embryo. Some of these eggs, 

 preserved m the hatching jars, were carefully examined 

 from day to day. and, although they exhibited a certain 

 amotxnt of progress, development was slow. It finally be- 

 came evident that the development of the eggs was being 

 retarded by some cause, presumably the lower temperature 

 of the water, and this result, couple'd with the statements of 

 the fishermen, that embryos are seen only in May, June and 

 July, makes it probable that the hatching of lobster eggs at 

 other seasons is only an accidental or occasional occurrence. 

 It is also not at all improbable that the yoimg hatched dur- 

 ing cold weather perish soon after leavmg the egg." 



Professor John A. Rider, formerly of the United States 

 Fish Commission, writes under date" of Nov. 4, 1886; 



"In a period extending over about one hundred days the 

 voung lobsters grow from a length of Igin. to one ot l^in. 

 in making this growth the youug lobsters moult not less 

 than nine times, the earlier moults coming much closer to- 

 gether than the later ones. The interval of time probably 

 becomes still tcreater during the later months. I think it 

 probable that "after reaching a length of nine inches, the 

 lobster moults but once a year. 



"I have never seen a lobster under 9in. with eggs attached 

 that 1 can remember. If the old lobstei-s were to moult 

 oftener than once a year the result would be that the eggs 

 would be cast off with the .shell. 



"That this is not the case is, I think, sufficiently proved by 

 the fact that the eggs are carried on the .swimmerets." 



Much has been said about the shiinkage of lobsters after 

 boiling, Having made a large number of measurements to 

 test this point, in the presence of witnesses, I am convinced 

 that a hard-shell lobster, such as used by the canning 

 factories, will not shrink at all by boiling. The last te.st 

 was May 1, 1880, in Thoma.stou, and resulted as follows: 



After Boiling After Cooling 

 Live Lobsters. 20Miantes. IjJHom-s. 



No. 1 11 i6 inches. 11 U inches, 11 U inches. 



No. 2 ', 10 k " 10 % " 10 % 



No. 3 13 1-32 " 12 1-32 " 12 3-3'.' 



No. 4 13 " 13 " 13 



No. 5 11 M " 11 H " 11 H 



No. (i uV-ifi " 11^-16 " : 



No. 7 11 1-16 " 11 1-16 " 11 1-16 



No. 8 IIH " 11 3^ " 11 „^ " 



No. 9 W 21-22 " 10 25-32 " IS 



No. 10 10 11-3:2 " lOU-33 " 10 11-33 " 



No. 11 10 9-16 10 9-16 " 10 9-16 



No. 12 10 26-33 " 10 26-33 " 10 26-33 



No. 13 10 21-33 " 10 ;a-33 " 10 21-33 " 



It VNull be seen bv the above Tnea.surements that none of 

 them shrink by boiling and four of them gained a fraction. 



Mr. Arthur Brown, of North Haven, who has been in the 

 bu,siuess of canning lobsters for many years, measured in the 

 spring of 1885, fifty young lobsters just 9in. long when alive. 

 After boiling them the proper time measured them again 

 and found that they did not shrink at all by boiling. I know 

 of many other similar experiments with similar results. 



Chap'ter 40, section 21, Revised Statutes, reads as follows: 

 "It is tmlawful to fish for, catch, buy, sell, expose for sale, 

 or possess between the first day of October and the fifteenth 

 day of the follo-sving August, any female lobster in spa^vn or 

 with eggs attached,' or any yomts lobster less than 103-2'in. 

 in length, measuring frorii head to tail extended, exclusive 

 nf claws or feelers, and such lobsters when caught shall be 

 liberated alive at the risk and cost of the party taking them, 

 under a penaly of one dollar for each lobster so caught, 

 bought, sold, exposed for sale, or in possession not so liber- 

 ated. Provided, however, that from the first day of April to 

 the fifteenth day of July it shall be lawful to fish for, catch, 

 buy, sell, expose for sale, or possess for canning and all other 

 purposess any lobsters less than 9in. in length, measured sm 



