Evening star., 1897-08-07
MILLIONS OF LoBsTERs
An Enormous Number Required to Supply
= the American Market
Likel, 10 ne . FaIlius OF in the
Catch This Yenr-How These
III bs
shelphsh Are Trapped.

/
The people of this country have a great
| hking for lobster, for many millions of the
sheiiilsh are eaten by them every year,
| without counting the other millions that
go on the market In. cans" said large
wholesale fish dealer of New York to a
otar writer. There Is, however every
indication that this years supply of lob
s'ers VIII fall considerably short of the
oeihaho, as the catch thus far has been
50 scanty at such fishing grounds as
Ncs nix, Stoniagton. Block Island and places
iurther TO the eastward as to compel hum
dfeos OF fishermen to abandon the hunt
ai.osetner. Lobsters, at present, readily
orihs from IA to IS cents a pound. and
idtef IN the season. IL the Halifax catch
nf oo larger than our own, advance
expected. ~ po1"u may oe
fishing for Holsters has been I'D to
VIII mlsnin recent years, a very lucrative bust
ness but owing to the Immense o,antit;as
OF the shellfish that have been taken alone
ne Maine and other shores for large can
.ilHs factories there are now but COMPARE
,rsy urta,y rev Holsters to be found on grounds
wnere they once swarmed. The Gamers
nao hundreds of fishermen in their employ
Mo Mo were constantly trapping for them
.ney uld not care about the size, age or
i,ls,nermen ,s,lH.n We're simply instructed to GET
i,;oSS.ers, and they Obeyed orders Big
niue, good, bad and Indifferent. thew al
Ge,n %Sn. auto the cans together. The incessant
iano tn,sno OF the New England canning es-
lapIsnments has had its effect NOT so
lnccn l In lessening the number of these
S SsiceiiIsn mat are sent to market, but in
sterS marketed VI eHe ioD-
.ere is no fun in catching Holsters FOR
q nVins' 1t is all hard and expensive work
~ engage In the business of lobster tran
ping with anything like profit a fisherman
iiuSt possess fro,
% one hundred and fifty trans set over a
hsnlng ground of ten miles at lea ast in cir
Iii. LII. inese traps must be set at night and
visited every morning. In the winter tb;s
means going out no small distance fro,, tho
snore' the Holsters being in the ieenast
anu the fishermen in making their
tounds, hana s., in. IN small smacks and steamers,
nave to fight the gales and ice and fierce
snow storms that frequently rage oyer
their lobster beds ei
Gacn nsherman has his own private
fshnn fsdan on ms traps, and such thing as one
isherman disturbing or seouestrati,s q
trap belonging to another is unknown
among them. In fact, no matter where q
ueieIct trap may be found, the finder will
spare no trouble in having it returned to its
cwner as soon as possible This is an nm
wTitten law among these rude and ha rdv
usherIolk, and the man who would violate
~ ~ would oe regarded as having committed
me unparaonable sin, and be Stunned and
De denounced by all his fellows.
, appAh8 LODStcrS.
"A LOBSTER pot is a simple enough con-
'rNahce'le 1t resembles more than anything
eise an immense bird cage made of wooden
s,aes' b9eh epds are covered with loose
strong netting made from tarred.rope. with
Aoie IA khe middle of each net. This trap
is sunk by weighing it with stones and
,.es vi t9f bottom in horizontal position.
A puoy fastened to 1t by means of ropes IN.
q, tSrn
trap. cod s. head or other bait that will
eeHpt ING eYar-ravenous and hungry Ioh-
ster. Is placed inside the pot, where It Is
stetio s.eufeu on sSong iron hooks to keep 1t
stationary. .Ih1s soon attracts the lobster
ana ne reconhoiters about the Dot to see
now ne may get at the aggravating morseI
,ha IN ms frantic ,skirmishing he discovers
sa,f ltIh..lag ana ne turns and backs him
.I aen Hr9ugn or. He no sooner gets in
enough. than he realizes that he is in q
NIX. he Immediately loses all inclination tn
sianPie san, the bait that tempted him to get
into the serape. He moves about in fhe
trap, looking for a way to get ont inst as
irantlcally as he searched for a way TO oct
IN only a short time before So agitated
hees hoef me ne oecome that he forgets that his
pest pedestrian work is accomplished by n
backward movement, and he doesn't trv
TO back out of the hole In the NET as he
tpaeRed ln' but exerts himself to get out
Eead nrst, feat that is utterly impossible
Tor him TO accomplish because of his anor
defeat his efforts fe aiiu
But let the craZed lobster he released
from the pot and he will no sooner have
reached the outside than a desire to nos
sess the tempting bait takes possession
OF MIN again, and he once more makes
frantic search for a way to get into the
trap. Having entered. he Immediately be-
comes panic stricken again. and renews his
crazy enorts to escape. No matter how
many times lobster may get out of a
trap, he will Just as often set at once to
work TO become prisoner again That
Holsters are seized with this strange panic
the moment they find themselves in a tran
Is evident from the fact that although as
many as twenty are often found in one
pot when 1t is taken up, the bait will sell
dom: II ever, show any sign Of having been
touched by any of them.
1.-The pots would be no obstacle to tho
Holsters freedom If the courteous creature
only knew its power, for half a dozen of
them could smash a pot to pieces i'm a
twinkling,. or one sweep of a Holsters great
claw would serve to tear the tarred rope
netting from the frame as if it had been
gauZe.
only the largest Holsters are shipped
from the fisheries. the smaller ones being
sold to the Gamers. Not many years ago
the average lobster that came to market
from New England was from nineteen TO
twenty inches long. not counting the claws.
The largest average now is not more than
half that length There used to be plenty
OF tweive-pound Holsters, ard I have seen
them weighing eighteen pounds. A lobster
as large as that would have to be thirty
years old at least. This shellfsh grows
very slowly, and at three years old is not
much larger than a crawfish A lobster
under five years old is not fit for market.
but quantities of such youngsters have to
pass muster in all city fish stalls now
aG1yS'