THE LOBSTER FISHERY OF MAINE. 
255 
LOBSTER POUNDS. 
For a uumber of years the catch of lobsters was sold by the fishermen to the 
dealers and by the latter to the trade as rapidly as possible. In doing this the markets 
would be flooded at certain times, when the price would drop to a very low figure, 
while at other times they would be very scarce, which would enhance the price 
materially. The dealers were the first to see the necessity for devising some method 
by which lobsters could be secured when they were plentiful and cheap and retained 
in captivity until they became scarce and high in price. Inclosures of various kinds 
had for some years been in use in the fisheries in various parts of the country for the 
purpose of keeping certain species alive until the time came to utilize them. In 1875 
Johnson & Young, of Boston, established an inclosure or pound near Vinal Haven, 
on one of the Fox Islands. A cove covering about 500 acres, with an average depth 
of about 90 feet, was selected. A section of about 9 acres, separated from the main 
portion of the cove by a natural shoal and with a bottom of soft grayish mud, was 
selected for the pound. In order to make it proof against the efforts of the lobsters 
to escape and as a protection from enemies without, a wire fence was built over the 
shoal part. This section had a depth of from 15 to 60 feet, and a capacity of about 
300,000, although there were rarely that many in the pound at one time. 
The lobsters are bought from smacks and from fishermen in the vicinity during 
the height of the fishing season, when the price is low, and are retained in the pound 
until the price becomes high, which is generally during the winter season. They are 
fed with fish offal, which can usually be bought at Yinal Haven for $1 per barrel. 
Oily fish are not fed to them, as it is said that the lobsters decrease in weight on such 
a diet. Experience has shown that the quantity of food required depends largely on 
the temperature of the water, as lobsters do not eat as freely when the water is cold 
as in water of a higher temperature. When wanted for shipment they are usually 
secured by means of pots, seines, or beam trawls. 
Even with such a successful example before them, other dealers were chary about 
going into the business, and in 1890 there were only three pounds in the whole State. 
They increased more rapidly after that, however, and in 1898 there were nine pounds 
in the State, with a total valuation of $18,700. These were located at Dyer Bay, 
Sunset, Yinal Haven, Long Island, South Bristol, Pemaquid Beach, Southport, and 
House Island, in Portland Harbor. It is very probable that there will be a greater 
increase in the near future. 
THE CANNING- INDUSTRY. 
Maine is the only State in the Union in which lobsters have been canned. The 
following account of the inception and early history of the industry, taken from 
“The Fisheries and Fishery Industries of the United States,” is very complete: 
Lobster canning was first attempted in the United States at Eastport, Me., shortly after 1840, 
and was made successful in 1843, the methods finally employed having been borrowed from Scotland, 
which country is said to have learned the process from France. For the successful introduction of 
the process into the United States we are indebted to Mr. Charles Mitchell, now of Charlestown, 
Mass., a practical canner of Scotland, who had learned his trade of John Moir & Son, of Aberdeen, 
tbe first Scotch firm, it is claimed, to put up hermetically sealed prexmrations of meat, game, and 
salmon, their enterprise dating back to 1824. Mr. U. S. Treat, a native of Maine, appears, however, 
to have been most active and influential in starting the enterprise and in introducing canned goods 
into the markets of the United States. Mr. Treat was, at an early period, engaged in the preparation 
