THE LOBSTER FISHERY OF MAINE. 
Bv JOHN N. COBB, 
Agent of the United States Fish Commission. 
For some years past the condition of the lobster fishery of New England has 
excited the earnest attention of all interested in the preservation of one of the most 
valuable crustaceans of our country. In the State of Maine, particularly, where the 
industry is of the first importance, the steady decline from year to year has caused 
the gravest fears, and incessant efforts have been made by the United States Fish 
Commission, in conjunction with the State Fish Commission of Maine, to overcome 
this decline. This paper presents the results of an investigation by the writer in 
1899. All statistics, when not otherwise stated, are for the calendar year 1898. 
I am indebted to so many dealers, fishermen, and others for information given 
and courtesies extended that it is impossible to mention them by name, and I now 
extend to all my most sincere thanks for their many kindnesses. 
NATURAL HISTORY OF THE LOBSTER. 
Although the lobster has been of great value to the New England States and the 
British Provinces as a food commodity, but little was known of its life-history and 
habits until within the last few years. To this ignorance has been due quite largely 
the peculiar (and in some instances useless) laws enacted by some States. The 
gradual enlightenment of the public on this subject has borne good fruit, however, and 
most of the present State laws are founded on substantial facts instead of theories. 
Prof. Francis H. Herrick has been one of the most prominent of the investigators, 
and his summary of the present knowledge on this subject is quoted below from the 
Fish Commission Bulletin for 1897 : 
(1) The fishery is declining, and this decline is due to the persistence with which it has been 
conducted during the last twenty-five years. There is no evidence that the animal is being driven to 
the wall by any new or unusual disturbance of the forces of nature. 
(2) The lobster is migratory only to the extent of moving to and from the shore, and is, therefore, 
practically a sedentary animal. Its movements are governed chiefly by the abundance of food and 
the temperature of the water. 
(3) The female may be impregnated or provided with a supply of sperm for future use by the 
male at any time, and the sperm, which is deposited in an external pouch or sperm receptacle, has 
remarkable vitality. Copulation occurs commonly in spring, and the eggs are fertilized outside the 
body. 
(4) Female lobsters become sexually mature when from 8 to 12 inches long. The majority of all 
lobsters 101 inches long are mature. It is rare to find a female less than 8 inches long which has 
spawned or one over 12 inches in length which has never borne eggs. 
(5) The spawning interval is a biennial one, two years elapsing between each period of egg-laying. 
(6) The spawning period for the majority of lobsters is July and August. A few lay eggs at 
other seasons of the year — in the fall, winter, and probably in the spring. 
(7) The period of spawning lasts about six weeks, and fluctuates slightly from year to year. 
The individual variation iu the time of extrusion of ova is explained by the long period during which 
F. C. B. 1899—16 241 
