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BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION 1886 Vol. VI, No. 2. Washington, DC Feb. 8, 1886. NOTES ON LOBSTER CULTURE. Part 2....... To Part 3
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PAGE 24 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES, FISH COMMISSION. It would be impossible, within the limits of this paper, to cite even a portion of the evidence bearing upon the decrease of lobsters which has been collected, but following are a few of the remarks with which this subject is introduced in the report already 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, in which lobsters were at one time very abundant. This basin opens directly into the sea, and is sufficiently large to have afforded a remunerative fishery to several lobstermen. Two years' time was sufficient to reduce the supply of lobsters to such an extent that fishing became unprofitable. After an interval of about five years they again became abundant, and the supply was once more exhausted. Had this inlet not been so situated that it readily received supplies from without, it is probable that it would have required a much longer time to become replenished. "On a much larger scale has been the depletion of the once noted grounds about Cape Cod, Massachusetts, which at one time furnished nearly all the lobsters consumed in New York City. In the early part of the century, this fishery was entirely in the hands of fishermen from other States, principally Connecticut, who came to Cape Cod with their smacks, and, after catching a load, carried it to New York or Boston. As early as 1812 the citizens of Provincetown realized the danger of exhausting the grounds about their town, and succeeded in having a protective law passed by the State legislature. More or less stringent regulations respecting the lobster fishery of Cape Cod have been in force from that time down to date, and they have probably done good service in prolonging the fishery; but the period of its prosperity has long since passed, as.continued overfishing has so exhausted the grounds on almost every portion of Cape Cod that they are no longer profitable even to the few men who still set their traps there. From the sketch of this region, given further on, it will be seen that the decrease has not been a temporary one, although an entire rest for a long period of time might possibly allow it to recover more or less of its former abundant supplies. As it is, no large catches are now made, and but few lobsters are carried away from the Cape. "The immediate vicinity of Provincetown has suffered most in this respect, but scarcely more than any portion of the coast from that town to Boston or the one side and to New Bedford on the other. A delay in the publication of this report enables the writer to add a note for the southern portion of this region, covering the period down to July, 1885. Vineyard Sound proper and the vicinity of Wood's Holl, Mass., have afforded but poor catches for a number of years, but the region about Gay Head has continued to attract the lobstermen down to the present time. Each succeeding year, however, lobsters have appeared to be less plentiful, and during the spring months and June of 1885 scarcely anything has been done. The fishermen are discouraged, and are forced to attribute the scarcity to overfishing, the possibility of which many of them have all along denied. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BULLETIN OF THE US FISH COMMISSION Page 25 At Cuttyhunk Island the catch for 1885 was less than one-fourth that for 1880, and the same was reported of the remainder of the Elizabeth Islands, No Man's Land, and Gay Head, "In the waters of Rhode Island and Connecticut a large decrease of lobsters is reported by many of the fishermen, and the increased catch for the few years preceding 1880 was obtained only by the use of a much larger number of traps than was employed formerly. Although the fishery in those States was begun very many years ago, it is only within comparatively recent times that it has been extensively carried on. "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 water has made the actual decrease less apparent. The rocky bottoms of the coast of Maine are also supposed to afford the lobsters greater protection than the sandy ones to the south, and in many places the traps cannot be set as closely together, 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 l5 to 20 years, or since the establishment of numerous canneries and of the perfected methods of transporting fresh lobsters to all parts of the country. The demand being so much greater than the supply, 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 who has disturbed the balance." The above remarks were based mainly upon the fishery investigations of 1880, since which evidences of continued 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 supply the demand, the amount obtained from that State having been less than in previous years. One of the strongest evidences of decrease in abundance is afforded by the continuous decrease in the average size of the lobsters sent to the markets. The exact amount of this decrease is not determinable, as no records bearing upon this subject were made prior to 1880, but the fact was granted by the fishermen and canners, even in those regions where a perceptible decrease in numbers was not admitted. The average weight of the lobsters marketed in most places in 1880 was estimated to be about two pounds each. A New Haven correspondent stated that the average length of the lobster sold in the markets in that place in 1880 was about 10 and a half inches, and the average weight about two pounds, against an average length of about 13 inches and an average weight of about three and one-half pounds 20 years ago. In Boston the market lobsters ranged but little above the limit in size permitted -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 26 by the State laws, and that seems to be the case nearly everywhere. In Portland, Me., the average length of the lobsters marketed in 1880 was about 10 and one half inches, and in Boston 11 to 11 and one half inches, while in New York City the range in size was from 10 and one half to 16 inches. The facts above stated apply only to the larger distributing centers, where custom had prescribed the minimum limit in size of the lobsters marketed, before protective laws were enacted. At that time there was an abundance of large lobsters, and the smaller individuals were regarded as of little account for the fresh trade. They have, however, been used for a long time by the canneries on the coast of Maine, by the fishermen as bait, and to supply local demands. The quantity of lobsters consumed, measuring less than 10 inches in length, is, therefore, very great, and on some portions of the Maine coast the canneries make use of only those that are too small for the fresh-market trade. In fact, the greater proportion of the lobsters now canned are less than 10 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. RANGE AND MIGRATIONS OF LOBSTERS. The American lobster has been taken as far south as off Cape Hatteras N. C., where a single medium-sized individual (13 inches long) was dredged from a depth of 49 fathoms, by the Fish Commission steamer Albatross, in 1884. Two or three examples have also been recorded from the northeastern part of the sea-coast of Virginia, but the Delaware Breakwater may be regarded as practically the southern limit of its range, although it is not at all common at that place, and is rarely fished for. Lobsters are somewhat more abundant off Atlantic City and Long Branch, New Jersey, where they afford a limited fishery, and in New York Bay and the adjacent regions they were at one time quite plentiful, but overfishing and the pollution of the waters have almost entirely exterminated them there. Passing eastward through Long Island Sound, they gradually increase in abundance as we approach the Block Island region, and from there to the extreme northern limit of the coast of Massachusetts, wherever the bottom was suited to them, they were formerly exceedingly abundant. The first important fishery originated along this section of the coast, Cape Cod at one time having furnished New York City with nearly all of its supplies. The sandy shores of New Hampshire are not so prolific in lobsters as are those of either of the adjoining States. Maine is now the principal source of supply for all the larger markets of this country, the yearly fishery of that State greatly exceeding in quantity and value those of all the other States combined. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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