New-York tribune., 1894-04-22

ovERCATCHING CANNING. REFRIGERATOR cAs
AND EvAsIoNs OF LAw-ARTIFIcIAL PROP
AGATION THE CHIEF REMEDY
"Iobsters are still diminishing in supply" mu
President Huntington OF the New-York State Gam,
and Fisheries Commission, to Tribune reporter ths
other day "and have been steadily growing scarc~
for several years Why? Well there are seyeru
causes for the decreased supply. The oyercatch hs,
been yery great. the female lobster being captured
both IN season and out Of season, and having little
onnortunity 10 spawn and reproduce her specie.
Then the enormous canning business carried on 10
immense canneries, both in Newfoundland and Ia
Maine and Massachusetts, their products being s.
ported or shipped inland The latter business has
grown to prodlgious proportions on account Of To
great facilities for transportation furnished by II.
refrigerator railroad cars. by means Of which lob
s,ers are distributed in remote interior towns and
cities where they were never seen before
The law regulating the catching and selling Of
Holsters in this State Is far less strict than IN
Massachusetts, and Maine. Here Il is lawful 70 catch
and sell Young Holsters that are only nine inches
long. while there it is unlawful 10 capture and
pose for sale any lobster less than lo2 inches long
We have unnecessarily tried 70 have our Law
amended and made more stringent. but It looks %
II the result will be repetition Of the od story Of
Iockln, the stable door after tho horse is stolen
Large lots Of short Holsters. under % inches Ia
length. however, Stll come 70 lnlH Htthrt ana
Doubtless many that are much smaller and con-
slderably less than the length prescribed by law IN
this State for you know. some dealers are not over
burlened with conscience and will not hesta.s@
ovade the law. II they 10 50 with immediate
pron 10 themselves. regardless OF me future ana ne
ruination Of the lobster fisheries.
.'Our force for carrying out the law is very small
We have only twenty detectives, all OF wnom na''
poyer Of arrest and each OF nineteen OF whom Is
ll.,.t- g, Of
which we have divided the sixty counties OF the
State. the twentieth acting as a chiei OF me
force with headquarters at Albany. and having gen.
eral sunervislon over all the districts. which ne VI
its and inspects often as practicable.
HOW IoBsTERs ARE PROPAGATED.
"rhe Commission" continued Mr.. Huntington
"succeeded in putting out over 9"op loos'er ~
Ob1bv Holsters, last year from it's Cold spring mar
Dor hatchery. on Long Island, and hopes 70 %"
considerably better luck this year Propasau1
HOLSTERS as rapidly as possible is. after all IN w"
OF the laxity Of the law and the limited means pr
v;ded for its enforcement. chief reliance snI
make some personal experiments IN propass'
Holsters at my expense. az my nome IN W.
Rochelle this season. Independent or the S'a'e har
erv AZ Cold Spring Harhor. ! have ALREADY ou"
several floating wooden propagatlng boxes. the sans
as are used down East. and shall test tne uun9
Of these as compared with the glass propist"S
lars which are used at the state hatchery na"
considerable faith in the successful outcome oi ny
experiments. but Of course the result remains +"
practically demonstrated
The law regulating the lobster fishery IN Ne"
fouudanl is far more strict than that IN tniS 'Ou"
nv Every lobster fisherman Is compelel 20 prr
crre license from the Government. which esnc
lshes hatchng-h houses under its own .nheuss
suneryison and management. and handles a" wv
sters Itself during the Matching season ~ 1sisni
extends from May 10 August Whlle on S,.-- = Nav
9. frOm he
- about July |. the season along me 80 -, ir,I.
here 10 the further boundary Oh NaaT T dene5dng al
ali notnts upon the temperature Of the water W.. W..
az a. -. ,,,osr,tng and cold rstardng the spawning
and Matching Experiments have shown tnat i9ps.r
cannot be successfully propagated IN Wa'e' u WV"
Fitensive eXperments made about one year ago
AT the famous Woods Holl hatchery. under dLecwsaa
~ the United states Fish Commissioners sho"SSs Ss
that even Win the most careful handling OF u.
eggs fully ~ per cent OF the whoie hInl@uvt @ 80.
spoiled in manipulation, the experiments beng t1IS'
are very small and II Is estimated that ney IeqS iSs
from dye 10 seven years develop into obS!ers. .a
inches inche long The Experiments al Woods hSs
showed that he female Holsters averaged ao2a. ,s
eggs each and hg%rng & on da see 2 TsSs az esst which
would show a decrease since then OF 95t 95.,s n,
Fish commissioner OF Newfoundland hatched ara
planted. under his own personal drectoh anu ''F'
vision i262S.eD Holsters
SPECIES AND HABITS OF LoBsTERS'
Iobsters native to the waters along the o01', e..
In Long Island Sound. from New-JeTseN 10 anu :,
Guiding Newfoundland. are Of the same Speees V
crustaceans When fu-grown they are rom ',S. w..
t. Two feet in length. have many legs long 'a''s "
prawns. and large unequal claws ~ great Pow" p "a
Norwegian Holsters. which are plentiful SoSsS so an
sembe the American Holsters which are 80 AZ,
fortunately becoming scarce. European oostyha
smaller than those of this country Splnous ,ssra
wnters Crawfsh resemble Holsters hut are masa a
smaller Those which come from fresh "a,ng water "' n
delicate meat and are considered sood eS''"e
emf .h,N
Male and female Holsters supposed 70 Ss Pe SAN:
size A. males furnish the most meat me si,aSnlsa
the lobster is composed OF small eggs 9' sScoring
:" her growth The eggs are OF a bright coral,si
color when unmpregnated. but when hp ,nsniiy
Ana m9rrns rim rey s ET@Ig"y or when
hatched minute in size and instead oi Tnsrents
on the bottom of river or bay. like their pa,esS sSS
they swim abou; like other little fishes. ~ s,hlt,
months. however. they gradually assume % .nssr IN
OF the adult become crawers and are no 0"e''
The meat OF the lobster is highly esteemed as asmp
and can be prepared in many ways tna' S az invested
and used In the capture and canning OF ,snrhl
his and sSt 10rSa Ss limit IS sc
shore OF the Strait OF Belle Isle. where tney ybare
ess0nay found eu. never on 'Gs ise "8 ned stars
almost exclusively in wooden lobster Zach ph pt
baskets constructed on the principle OF ,be Icss
may easily enter but from which he canno' Hsnp ehp
cS SaIs of his h sprerGns @ SaMs eli she'll
spots OF bluish- black transformed into brgh' heap
let by boiling These traps are bated VIZ, VIZ stoueS
fish, and sunk the bottom by means Oh ,,oys
their positions being indicated by floats or nrstef
Lobsters live in summer near the coast anu wsy 70
rocky bottom In winter they cra"l 18th Of
deeper water. and sometimes descend 10 "a Sass,-on
from sixteen 10 twenty fathoms-S 10 l-V They are
steep shores. to take up winter quarters IL uns
exceedingly voracious. but can exist lI lo,e lines
without food. They deliberate AT me a, ,hsr
when their larder has been supplied ana ena,srred
food In a state OF luxurious rest. Thelr PHI pr. tha
diet Is the OF living fish. but. having ssy eSt
y a 4 a "HObSOn'S
dead fish when they can't catch EN- s"'e'