THE LOBSTER FISHERY OF MAINE.
By 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 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 noted 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 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 10 and one half 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 in the time of extrusion of ova is explained by the long period during which

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the eggs attain the limits of growth. Anything which affects the vital condition of the female during this period of two years may affect the time of spawning.

(8) The spawning period in the middle and eastern districts of Maine is two weeks later than in Vineyard Sound, Massachusetts. In 1893 71 per cent of eggs examined from the coast of Maine were extruded in the first half of August.

(9) The number of eggs laid varies with the size of the animal. The law of production may be arithmetically expressed as follows: The number of eggs produced at each reproductive period varies in a geometrical series, while the length of lobsters producing these eggs varies in an arithmetical series. According to this law an 8-inch lobster produces 5,000 eggs, a lobster 10 inches long 10,000, a 12-inch lobster 20,000. This high rate of production is not maintained beyond the length of 14 to 16 inches. The largest number of eggs recorded for a female is 97,440. A lobster 10 1/2 inches long produces, on the average, nearly 13,000 eggs.

(10) The period of incubation of summer eggs at Woods Hole is about ten months, July 15-August 15 to May 15-June 15. The hatching of a single brood lasts about a week, owing to the slightly unequal rate of development of individual eggs.

(11) The hatching period varies also with the time of egg-laying, lobsters having rarely been known to hatch in November and February.

(12) Taking all things into consideration, the sexes appear about equally divided, though the relative numbers caught in certain places at certain times of the year may be remarkably variable.

(13) Molting commonly occurs from June to September, but there is no month of the year in which soft lobsters may not be caught.

(14) The male probably molts oftener than the female.

(15) In the adult female the molting like the spawning period is a biennial one, but the two periods are one year apart. As a rule, the female lays her eggs in July, carries them until the following summer, when they hatch; then she molts. Possibly a second molt may occur in the fall, winter, or spring, but it is not probable, and molting just before the production of new eggs is rare.

(16) The egg-bearing female, with eggs removed, weighs less than the female of the same length without eggs.

(17) The new shell becomes thoroughly hard in the course of from six to eight weeks, the length of time requisite for this varying with the food and other conditions of the animal.

(18) The young, after hatching, cut loose from their mother, rise to the surface of the ocean, and, lead a free life as pelagic larvae. The first larva is about one-third of an inch long (7.84 mm). The swimming period lasts from six to eight weeks, or until the lobster has molted five or at most six times, and is three-fifths of an inch long, when it sinks to the bottom. It now travels toward the shore, and, if fortunate, establishes itself in the rock piles of inlets of harbors, where it remains until driven out by ice in the fall or early winter. The smallest, now from 1 to 3 inches long, go down among the loose stones which are often exposed at low tides. At a later period, when 3 to 4 inches long, they come out of their retreats and explore the bottom, occasionally hiding or burrowing under stones. Young lobsters have also been found in eelgrass and on sandy bottoms in shallow water.

(19) The food of the larva consists of minute pelagic organisms. The food of the older and adult stages is largely of animal origin with but slight addition of vegetable material, consisting chiefly of fish and invertebrates of various kinds. The large and strong also prey upon the small and weak.

(20) The increase in length at each molt is about 15.3 per cent. During the first year the lobster molts from 14 to 17 times. At 10 1/2 inches the lobster has molted 25 to 26 times and is about 5 years old.

As the purpose of this article is to deal more particularly with the commercial side of the lobster question all interested more particularly in the natural history of the animal are referred to the following works:

The Fisheries and Fishery Industries of the United States,
sec. I, pp. 780-812.

The American Lobster, by Francis H. Herrick. Bull. U. S. Fish Com. for 1895, pp. 1-252.

HISTORY OF THE FISHERY.

Ever since the early Puritan settlers first learned from the Indians how to utilize the lobster, it has been one of the most prized articles of food in the New England States. The early town records of Massachusetts contain frequent references to this valuable crustacean, and efforts were made at an early day to conserve the supply.

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At first, as most settlers lived on or near the coast, each family could easily secure its own supply, but as the settlements gradually extended farther inland this became inconvenient, and it soon became customary for certain persons living on the coast to attend to supplying the wants of the inland settlers, and thus the commercial fishery was established.

The coast of Maine is very favorably situated for this fishery. In its eastern and middle sections the shore is bold and rocky, while it is cut up by large deep inlets and coves which are studded with numerous islands, large and small, and by bold rocky promontories. Groups of islands are also numerous farther off shore, like the Fox and Matinicus Islands, Deer and Mount Desert islands. Large and small freshwater rivers are numerous and the granite bottoms of these channels and inlets form admirable breeding grounds.

In the western end the shores are not so rocky, being broken frequently with sandy reaches, while the rivers are small and comparatively shallow. West of Casco Bay the islands are infrequent. As a result of this conformation of coast the best fishing grounds in Maine are between Cape Elizabeth and Quoddy Head.

As early as 1830 smacks from Boston and Connecticut visited Harpswell for fresh lobsters, and it is very probable that even before this time they had visited the points farther west in the State, as the history of the fishery, so far as known, shows that it gradually worked to the eastward. This was doubtless owing to the fact that the trend of settlement in the early part of the century was in that direction. It is also probable that, for some time before the people along the coast took up the fishery, the smackmen themselves did their own fishing. This is easily believed when the greatabundance is considered. It is known that this was done in Massachusetts.

During summer the lobsters were very common close in shore and could easily be gaffed by boys at low water; but this could hardly be called a regular fishery.

The regular fishery began with the use of hoop-net pots, which were generally of very rude construction, and the facility with which the lobsters escaped from them led to their disuse soon after the lath pots began to be introduced. The lath pots were essentially the same in construction as those now used on the coast of Maine, and each pair of fishermen then handled between 25 and 50.

Up to about 1865 it was the custom to set the traps singly, and two men were usually employed in the fishery, one to haul up, empty the pot, rebait it, and drop it overboard, while the other handled the boat. In the latter year it was discovered that by setting the pots on trawls more pots could be set and only one man would be required to work them. This invention, which was claimed by several different persons, proved quite successful for a while, but after a time, when the supply of lobsters began to drop off, better results were secured by scattering the pots over a greater area and shifting their position each time they were fished, which was very easily done. As a result of this the use of trawls decreased very rapidly.

The following facts regarding the early lobster fishery of Maine are from the Fishery Industries of the United States, section v, vol. II, pp. 700, 701:

In 1841 Capt. E. M. Oakes began to carry lobsters from Cundy's Harbor and Horse Island Harbor, Harpswell, to Mr. Eben Weeks, at East Boston. He was then running a well-smack, named the Swampscott, of 41 tons, old measurement. The season extended from the 1st of March until about the 4th of July, after which time the lobsters were supposed to be unfit for eating; the black lobsters, or shedders, were even considered poisonous.

During this season of four months Captain Oakes made ten trips, carrying in all 35,000, by count. He continued in this trade about six years, taking the combined catch of about five or six fishermen. At this same period the smack Hulda B. Hall, 50 tons,

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of New London, Conn., Captain Chapell, was carrying lobsters from Cape Porpoise, Gloucester, Ipswich Bay, and occasionally Provincetown, to Boston, making 15 trips in the season of four months, and taking about 3,500 lobsters each trip. Captain Chapell was supplied with lobsters by four men at Cape Porpoise, and by the same number at both Gloucester and Ipswich Bay. For four months following the close of the lobster season on the Maine coast, or from July 4 until November, Captain Chapell ran his smack with lobsters to New York, obtaining most of his supplies at Provincetown.

In 1847 Captain Oakes purchased the smack Josephine, with which he began running to Johnson Young's establishment, at Boston, in 1848, buying a portion of his lobsters in the Penobscot Bay region, where this fishery had just been started. The quantity of lobsters carried by him that year was 40,000. The prices paid to the fishermen for smack lobsters was as follows: During March, 3 cents, each; April, 2 1/2 cents; May and June, 2 cents.

In 1850, he began to obtain supplies from the Muscle Ridges, leaving Harpswell entirely, on account of the small size of the lobsters then being caught there. At this time the average weight of the lobsters marketed was about 3 pounds, and all under 10 1/2 inches in length were rejected. The traps were made of the same size as at present, but were constructed of round oak sticks, and with four hoops or bows to support the upper framework. A string of bait, consisting mainly of flounders and sculpins, was tied into each trap. About 50 traps were used by each fisherman, and they were hauled once a day. The warps or buoy lines, by which the traps were lowered and hauled, were cut in 12-fathom lengths.

Lobsters were so abundant at the Muscle Ridges, at this period, that four men could fully supply Captain Oakes with lobsters every trip. In the course of ten days each man would obtain between 1,200 and 1,500 marketable lobsters. In Captain Oakes' opinion, the Muscle Ridges have furnished the most extensive lobster fishery of the Maine coast. He ran to this locality until 1874.

Capt. S. S. Davis, of South Saint George, states that about 1864, when he first began buying lobsters at the Muscle Ridges, three men, tending 40 to 50 pots each, caught all the count lobsters he could carry to market in his smack. He could load 5,000 lobsters at a time, and averaged a trip in 7 to 9 days. This traffic continued for six or seven years. In 1879, Captain Davis bought from 15 men In the same locality, and at times was obliged to buy also of others in order to make up a load.

The fishery at North Haven began in 1848, but did not increase so rapidly at first as in sections farther west, as the smacks would only take the medium-sized lobsters, fearing that the largest would not be able to stand the trip. At Matinicus Island the fishing began in 1868. In 1853 the people on Deer Island began the fishery, and as the smackmen made frequent visits the business rapidly increased. The establishment of a cannery at Oceanville, about 1860, also caused a considerable development of the fishery. The fishery was started at Isle an Haute about 1855, and at Swan Island in the early fifties.

The canning of lobsters was first carried on at Eastport in 1842, but the fishery was not taken up until about 1853, as it was supposed there were no lobsters in the neighborhood. The supplies for these canneries previous to the inception of the fishery were obtained by smacks running to the westward.

For some years the fishery was only prosecuted in the late spring, summer, and early fall months. Just when winter fishing began in the State is doubtful; but according to Capt. Charles Black, of Orr Island, it began in that region in 1845 at Harpswell. Previously the fishermen had the impression that lobsters could not be successfully caught earlier than March 20.

During the summer of 1845 the captains of the well-smacks of New London Conn., who bought most of the lobsters in that vicinity, induced Charles E. Clay Samuel Orr, and a few others to fish during the winter, and they set their traps about the same distance from the shore that the fishermen do at present, and in almost the same depth of water. The smackmen paid them $4 for 100 lobsters. The next winter the fishermen refused to sell by number and wanted $1.25 per 100 pounds. The smackmen had no objection to buy them by weight, but refused to pay more than $1:12 per 100 pounds. This was accepted, and for several years the prices were from $1.12 to $1.25 per 100 pounds.

CAPTION The steam smack Mina & Lizzie landing her cargo in Portland,

CAPTION Fleet of Lobster boats at York Island

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Comparatively few traps were necessary then, as when the weather would permit the fishermen to tend their traps they would catch from 20 to 30 lobsters daily, and frequently, when the traps were hauled, they would find several lobsters clinging to some part of the pots. The bait was very plentiful and caught with spears.

The lobsters were placed in cars at that time, after having been "plugged" to keep them from injuring each other. The plugs were almost 1 1/2 inches long, flat on one side, round on the other, and with a sharp point. Plugging has since been discontinued, as the trifling injury the lobsters did each other was nothing compared to the value of cans of meat spoiled by one of these pine plugs being boiled with it.

THE FISHING GROUNDS.

It is difficult to estimate the comparative value of the grounds in the State, owing to the movements of the lobsters. In the early spring, in April or May, as the waters in the bays and rivers warm up, the lobsters come into the comparatively shallow waters. They remain here until late in the fall, going back to the ocean or deep waters of the bays in either October or November. They love to congregate on rocky bottom, and pots set on such bottom will frequently make large catches, while those on sandy or muddy ground will catch almost nothing.

In the early years of the fishery they came in very close in great numbers, and could frequently be taken at low water in dip nets or by gaffs; but they are now found in summer in depths of from 3 to 15 fathoms in the numerous passages between the islands and the mainland, and the lower reaches of the bays and rivers. For a number of years winter fishing was not prosecuted, but now it is a very important business. In winter the pots are generally set in the ocean at depths of from 15 to 50 fathoms.

As the greatest part of the coast line is cut up by numerous bays and rivers, and these are dotted with large and small islands, they form admirable breeding grounds for the lobster. Some of the best locations are in Little Machias, Machias, Englishman, Pleasant Point, Chandler, Narragaugus, Muscongus, Linekin, Sheepscot, and Casco bays, while the fishing is especially good around the numerous islands in the lower Penobscot and Blue Hill bays, and at Monhegan and the Matinicus islands in the ocean. The Sheepscot River is also a favorite resort for lobsters during the warm months, while in the winter they retire to the waters of the bay, where the fishing can be carried on very easily.

At most of the other grounds the winter fishing is carried on in the ocean, as the lobsters do not usually remain in the bays. Most of the fishing in Casco Bay is carried on at the eastern end among the numerous islands. The earliest fishing of which we have any definite record was carried on from the township of Harpswell on this bay. This region has held its own remarkably well, as in 1898 more than twice as many lobsters were taken by fishermen from this township than from any other town in the State.

The upper portions of Frenchman, Blue Hill, and Penobscot bays were formerly very important grounds, but are now almost exhausted. These regions were especially noted for large lobsters. In August, 1891, Mr. F. W. Collins, a Rockland dealer, had 50 lobsters in his establishment which weighed from 10 to 18 1/2 pounds apiece. About half of these came from Castine, in upper Penobscot Bay, and the remainder from Blue Hill Falls, in the upper Blue Hill Bay.

The grounds in York County, at the western end of the State, were formerly quite prolific, but the excessive fishing of the last thirty years has very badly depleted them.

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THE FISHING SEASON.

In the early days of the fishery it was customary to fish only during the spring and fall. When the canneries went into operation they usually worked during the spring, early summer, and fall, and as they furnished a ready market for all the lobsters that could be caught this came to be the principal season. At that time it was not thought possible to do any winter fishing, owing to the cold and stormy weather and the fact that the fishing had to be carried on generally in the open sea.

In 1878 a law was passed limiting the canning season to the period between April 1 and August 1. This season was frequently changed by subsequent enactments, but rarely covered a longer period than that fixed in the first law. As at certain places on the coast the canneries were the only market for lobsters the fishery would cease as soon as the canneries stopped. At other places, which were visited by the smacks, some of the fishermen would continue fishing after the canneries closed, selling to the smackmen.

At various times a closed season was in force, but at present there is no limitation as to season. The canning industry in the State practically ceased to exist in 1895, and since then the whole catch has had to be marketed in a live or boiled condition. The smack fleet had been gradually increasing as the live-lobster trade extended, and by the time the canneries closed permanently they had extended their visits to every point where lobsters could be had in any number.

At present the majority of the fishermen usually haul out their traps during July and August and put them in good order for the fall fishing. During the excessively cold portion of the winter most of the pots are taken out, but some fishing is done during every month of the year.

The fishermen on Monhegan Island, about 12 miles southeast of Pemaquid Point, agree among themselves to put no lobster pots in the water until about the 1st of January. There is then no restriction on fishing until about May 15, when all pots are hauled out and no more fishing is done until the season begins again. During this season the law in regard to short lobsters is rigidly enforced by the fishermen themselves.

Should any outsider visit this island during the close time established by the fishermen, and attempt to fish, he is quietly informed of the agreement and requested to conform to it. Should he persist in working after this warning, his pots are apt to mysteriously disappear. As lobsters bring a much higher price in winter than in summer, the Monhegan fishermen reap a rich reward, as the lobsters are very numerous, owing to the 7 1/2 months close time. On the first day the fishermen hauled in 1900 one man secured 293, for which he received 19 cents apiece. The smallest number secured by anyone was 135.

FISHING APPLIANCES.

In most large fisheries for certain species numerous changes occur at intervals in the apparatus used, owing to changed conditions, etc., but in the lobster industry changes have been few, and at an early period the fishermen fixed upon a uniform apparatus, which has been in use ever since with but slight modifications, and these generally only temporary.

The earliest form of apparatus used to any considerable extent was the hoop net. This consisted generally of a hoop or ring of about 1/2 inch round iron, or a wooden hogshead hoop, from 2 1/2 to 3 feet or more in diameter. To this hoop was attached a net bag with a depth of 18 to 24 inches as a bottom, while two wooden half hoops were bent above it, crossing at right angles in the center about 12 or 15 inches above

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the plane of the hoop. Sometimes these half hoops were replaced by short cords. The bait was suspended from the point of crossing of the two wooden hoops and the line for raising and lowering the pots was attached at the same place. As there was no way of closing the mouth of the pot after a lobster had entered, these nets had to be constantly watched, the lobster being in the habit of retiring after he had finished his repast. In using these the fisherman would generally go out in the evening and at short intervals he would haul in his nets and remove whatever lobsters they might contain.

The constant attention necessary in attending to these hoop nets led the fishermen to devise an apparatus which would hold the lobsters after once entering and would require only occasional visits, and "lath pots" were found to fulfill all requirements. They acquire the name from the use of common laths in their construction. They are usually about 4 feet in length, with a width of about 2 feet, a height of 18 inches, and in Maine are usually of semicylindrical form.

The following description of this apparatus is from the Fishery Industries of the United States, sec. v, vol. 11, p. 666:

"The framework of the bottom consists of three strips of wood, either hemlock, spruce, or pine (the first mentioned being the most durable), a little longer than the width of the pot