NATURAL HISTORY OF AMERICAN LOBSTER. 
175 
The American lobster trap of the present time is simply a larger and more efficient 
modification of the old wicker “basket,” but made of laths with netted heads or ends 
in the form of a funnel with entrance ring. On the outer islands and coast of Maine 
the half-cylinder form is preferred. They are 2)4 to 4 feet long, 2 feet wide, and 18 
inches high, the smaller sizes being now commonly used. A trap of this type which 
I measured on Great Duck Island in 1902 was 3 feet 9 inches in length and 25 inches in 
both height and width. The frame was of scantling, from which were sprung three 
arches or “bows” of spruce, and to these were nailed laths at intervals of 2 inches, one 
side being provided with a hinged door. The “heads” are made of netted cotton, or, 
preferably, of manila cord, tarred and strung to a “funnel bow” or entrance ring of 
spruce, 6 inches in diameter, and often, as in this case, set obliquely to the long axis 
of the trap, the whole head being drawn inward to form an upwardly directed funnel. 
The lobster, in order to get to the bait, must therefore climb up the funnel and pass 
through the entrance ring; when once a prisoner it is liable to crawl over the ring 
rather than through it to liberty. The spindle for holding the bait is an iron spike 
securely attached to the center of the floor. Flat stones or bricks are used as weights, 
and the trap is secured to a 6-strand manila warp, which serves to lower and raise it, 
as well as to mark its position. This cord, the length of which is determined by the 
depth of the water, is fastened by one end to a corner of the frame or “sill” of the trap 
and by the other to a wooden float or buoy, which bears the owner’s color or mark. 
Traps are commonly set on single warps, but in summer are sometimes strung to an 
anchored ground line or trawl, to the number of 8 to 25 or more units and at intervals 
of about 30 feet, according to the depth, so that when one trap is hauled to the boat 
the next in line will be at the bottom. In this case the position of the anchor at either 
end of the trawl is marked by a buoy. Trawls were sometimes set across currents 
so that fine particles coming from the bait would be widely diffused, but the practice has 
been mostly given up. Fishermen tend from 50 to 125 traps, according to conditions, 
and some have two sets, the winter relay being left on the beach to dry out in summer. 
The “counters,” or lobsters of legal size, are temporarily stored in floating cars until 
gathered up by well boats, which carry them to the large markets or to the numerous 
pounds along the coast, where they are stocked for the winter and summer trade. 
The traps are baited with small herring, halibut, hake, or codfish heads or with 
fresh or salted fish of any kind. The fishermen try to follow the movements of the 
lobsters and in summer fish closer to the shores, ordinarily in from 1 to 10 fathoms, 
but in winter they often go out 5 or 6 miles and set their traps in 20 to 50 fathoms of 
water. The traps are pulled as often as possible, once or twice daily in summer, but in 
winter weather a week or even a fortnight may elapse before the traps can be visited, 
and many are destroyed by storms. 
The fish commission of Massachusetts, in recommending the adoption of a double 
legal gauge for lobsters of 9 to 1 1 inches, inclusive, proposed a standard trap which 
should have an entrance ring not to exceed 3^2 inches, with slats not less than i )4 inches 
