260 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
eggs is now carried on, and running to Eastport, returning over the same route. The 
Fish Commission schooner Grampus was also used in this work. The lobsters are 
purchased from fishermen, who receive the market price for ordinary lobsters, and as 
they are not allowed to sell these lobsters legally for consumption the sale to the 
Commission materially increases their financial returns. 
In 1S83 a radical advance along the line of artificial propagation was made, so 
far as the legislature was concerned, when the act incorporating the Samoset Island 
Association, of Boothbay, was passed. Section 4 of the charter reads as follows: 
Iii order to secure a sufficient aud regular supply of lobsters for domestic consumption on any 
land or islands under the control of said corporation, it may increase the number of lobsters within 
said limits by artificial propagation, or other appropriate acts and methods, under the direction of the 
fishery commission, and shall not be interfered with by other parties, but be protected therein, as said 
fishery commission may determine, and shall have the right, by its agents and tenants, to take and 
catch lobsters within 300 yards of the low-water line of the islands and lands owned or leased by said 
corporation, during each and every month, for domestic use. 
Iii 18S7 the legislature passed an act granting K. T. Carver the sole right to 
propagate lobsters in Carver’s pond, in Yinal Haven. Mr. Carver’s experiment was 
a failure, as he says the mud in the pond was so filthy that nearly all the spawn was 
killed. 
LARGE AND PECULIAR LOBSTERS. 
Since the inception of the fishery, stories of the capture of lobsters weighing 30, 
40, and even 50 pounds have been common, but have rarely been well authenticated. 
Especially is this the case in the early years of the fishery. It is probable that in the 
transmission of the stories from person to person the lobsters gained rather than lost 
in size. Among the most authentic cases in Maine are the following: 
On May 6, 1891, a male lobster weighing slightly over 23 pounds was taken in 
Penobscot Bay, southeast of Moose Point, in line with Brigadier Island, in about 3J 
fathoms of water, by Mr. John Condon. The lobster had tried to back into the trap, 
but after getting his tail through the funnel he was unable to get either in or out and 
was thus captured. 
According to Mr. F. W. Collins, a dealer of Bockland, in August, 1891, a lobster 
weighing 18£ pounds was taken at Blue Hill Falls, in upper Blue Hill Bay, while in 
November, 1S92, a female lobster weighing 18 pounds was taken at Green Island. 
In January, 1893, Mr. N. F. Trefetheu, of Portlaud, received a lobster from Vinal 
Haven which weighed 18 pounds. 
According to R. F. Crie & Sons, of Criehaven, on September 7, 1S9S, a male lobster 
weighing 25 pounds and measuring 25 inches from the end of the nose to the tip of 
tail, and 45 inches including the claws, was caught on a hake trawl by Peter Mitchell, 
a fisherman. The trawl was set about 2 miles southeast from Matinicus Rock Light 
Station in 60 fathoms of water. 
In August, 1899, the writer saw a live male lobster at Peak Island which measured 
44 inches in length and weighed 25 pounds, according to the statement of the owner. 
It had been caught near Monhegan Island, and the owner was carrying it from town 
to town in a small car, which he had built for it, and charging a small fee to look at it. 
In April, 1874, a female lobster weighing about 2 pounds was caught off Hurri- 
cane Island. Her color was a rich indigo along the middle of the upper part of the 
body, shading off into a brighter and clearer tint on the sides and extremities. The 
