Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1901-11-07
PLANS A NEW SCHEME
EFFECT WILL BE TO MULTIPLY
HOLSTERS.
Hatchery to be Established on Coast
of Maine to Prevent Extinction
of Crustacean Tribe.


orous work for the rescue of that pre-
ciGns curstacean, the lobster He will
establish on the Maine coast-the ia
voritc haunt of our eastern species
lobster hatchery to cost $4,000 This
will be our first government institution
| devoted exclusively to lobster Matching,
In ii hundreds of millions of eggs will,
by artificial stimulus, be made to give
| forth tLeiI valuable contents each year.
| Only m.ilionaires will be able to af-
ford 'obsters ten years hence. unless
something is done meanwhile to pro-
tect these creatures. This is Uncle
Sans estimate. Owing to their wide
area it viii be impossible for man to
completely wipe them out. But for all
practical purposes they will be lost be-
fore the year 1911, unless heroic meth
DDS are applied The sorry condition Of
the industry can be summed up in
these figures: In Maine. the foremost
lobster state, the quantity has fallen OF
55 per cent, and the price has increased
GO per cent. In ten years. Throughout
the eastern lobster zone, from Labra
dor to Delaware, a similar change has
occurred.
Mother Lobster eccentric creature
that she is, coats the outside of her body
with freshly-laid eggs. This she does
usually in Summer, every alternate
year. The eggs attach themselves to
little protuberances on her under size.
She casts them with cement-like sub
stance. which the water Immediately
hardens. The maternal instinct in
spires her to thus glue them fast to her
lest they be lost in the churning sea.
She carries them ten or eleven months
before Matching ensues. The minute
young break their shells usually in
June. All do not see the green glare of
the translucent sea at one and the same
time week or more elapses before
the advent of the first and lat born.
From the moment the little fellows APP
pear they select to take upon their own
shoulders the responsibilities OF life
and begin to paddle their own canoes.
They swim off to seek fortune, good or
i'll. the fostering parent not recogniz-
ine them again as hen offspring. The
number of young which mother lob
hter thus produces every two years de-
peE1s upon her size II she be eight
inches long she produces 5000 eggs, and
the number doubles every two inches
added Therefore a ten-inch mother
carries 10000 eggs; a l2-inch, 5000; a
li-inch 40 600; a l6-inch, so 900, and so
on up to 100. 600 which appears to be
the maximum.
The new hatchery will collect all egg
bearing mothers obtainabie along the
Maine coast. II is against the state law
for fishermen to sell to dealers Holsters
coated with the eggs. Many. by using
WOODEN mitten, strip OFF the eggs, leav-
/ ing them to die in their boats, and sell
| the females as lawful Holsters. But the
new hatchery will send out fleet of
/ little launches TO canvass lobster pot
tiers far and wide and pay Tor egg bear
ing Holsters the market price for those
which are marketable. Thus will be
collected the I,.illions upon millions cf
eggs to be utilized in the hatchery. Last
year the fish commissioners general
hatcheries at Gloucester and Woods
Holl Mass, thus bought 10000 900 lob
ster eggs, from which they Matched
some so million young But these
hatcheries do not devote their exclusive
energies TO lobster
Row after row of scven-qnart glass
Jars, arranged upon tables, will occupy
the main Matching room OF the new
station. Through these series viii pass
n continuous circulation of salt water
pumped from the sea. AS the thou
sanus of egg Holsters are brought in
men skilled in the art viii strip them
of their beaded coatings, Each opera
tor with his left hand, will grasp a
fighting creature from above, turn her
on her back and lower her. head down
ward into vessel designed for the
purpose Pressing her firmly against
its sides he will prevent her manipula-
ton of her claws. With n dun short
bladed knife he will separate her eggs
from the hairlike fherS holding them.
The subjects of this operation will then
he removed TO a tank and return unin-
iurcd 10 the region whence they came.
There they Will lay again two years
later.
The eggs Will now he placed in the
iucuhatOrS--the jars upon the tables.
They will lac dipped ont into glass grad
yates. Each ounce marked thcrcupon
Will represent G,090 About a half mil
lion eggs-two and onc-half quarts
will be placed in each jar, When first
introduced they will be matted togeth
or by the iibers connecting them. In
short time they viii separate and APP
pear like so many dark green, yellow
ish green and light grayish beads. in
termIxod and measuring each l-l0 inch
in diameter Eggs taken in October
will nct hatch until May. From those
taken in June the young will begin to
appear in - hours The sea water
must become warmed 60 early summer
heat before they will hatch In the
center of each table between two rows
of Matching jars will be one row OF sim
liar vessels for the reception OF the
young passing therein with the circu-
lating water A cover of muslin upon
the latter Jars will prevent their escape
At South Bluehill on the Hancock
county tMainel coast, is being con-
structed the largest lobster pound IN the
world its capacity being estimated al
500 600 HOLSTERS. The lobster fisheries
of Maine have long heen one of the most
important industries of the state the
catch being valued at millions OF dollars
annually The fishermen long ago real
lied that by holding the Holsters until
the on season OF the year they could
Get higher prices than ii the whole catch