The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1905-02-18
LoBsTERs ARE TRAVELLERS
Some Sent Adrift by Fish Commits
sioners Turn Up at Points Many
Miles Distant.

Some interesting experiments to de-
termine the habits of the lobster have
been conducted at the United States fish
hatchery station at Woods Hole, Mass,
and they have so far progressed as to
show that the popular belief that the
lobster never strays far from the place
of its birth is fallacy, says the New
York Sun. *.
About 300 Holsters, each bearing tag
to show that II was put overheard by the
fishery experts, are crawling over the
bottom of the Atlantic ocean, supposed
ly off the south shore of Cape Cod. They
are part of the whole number-about 400
that were set free in the waters of
Vineyard sound three years ago, and the
commissioners would like to learn their
exact whereabouts.
The Holsters, carrying little copper
tags fastened to their noses, were caught
in Vineyard sound, and were liberated
in the exact places from which they were
taken. The commissioners employed
system of tagging for the purpose OF
trying to determine their habits and to
learn. If possible, how often they shed
their shells.
Long before the commissioners liber-
ated any Of the tag-bearing Holsters.
they issued notices which were sent
broadcast among the fishermen along the
Atlantic coast, informing them of the
purpose for which the Holsters were
tagged, and asking their cooperation in
carrying out the experiment. The fish,
ermen were asked to send all tag-bear.
ing Holsters they caught to the hatchery
station here, and they we're furnished
with blanks which they were requested
to fill out giving the circumstances at
tending the capture of the Holsters.
Whether or not Holsters are migra-
tory was question which 1t was hoped
the experiment would settle for all time,
but most important of all was how
often the lobster shed its she'll Expert
ments with Holsters held in captivity
were made repeatedly, but without sat
isfactory results
While there seemed no good reason
why Holsters should not crawl or swim
from one region to another, it was be-
lieved that they were homebodies and
that they never wandered far from the
place of their birth. Proof that they did
or did not roam was lacking until the ex-
pertinent of tagging was made, when
for the first time in the history of the
lobster fishing industry it was definitely
learned that they often made long jour-
neys.
The proof was furnished by lobster
fisherman on Long Island who was on the
lookout for crustaceans bearing the sta
ton tag. He was the first to report hav-
ing caught one in his traps. He found
the lobster one morning about month
after it had been set free.
The lobster was kept alive and sent to
the station here as requested. So far as
the commissioners could tell, there had
been but a slight change. and that was
in the growth of the captive.
In a short time another of the tag
bearers was taken away down near the
western end of Long Island, nearly 100
miles from the place where it was set
free. Subsequently many others were
taken in the same region and in the Vi
cinity of Block island.
None were caught eastward of the
points where they had been liberated.
and the experiment seems to prove that
the tag-bearing Holsters had all started
south Immediately after being put into
the water.
Fifteen days after the last lot of lob
sters had been put into the waters of
Vineyard sound. one of them was caught
just Is miles from the point where 1t
had been liberated. so that this fellow
had travelled at an average speed of one
mile day. This speed was considerably
faster than it was believed possible for q
lobster to go. and exploded the theory
that Holsters are home-bodies for the
reason that it took them so long to travel
from place to place.
Within a year after the tag-bearers
had been liberated, more than rs per
cent. Of the total number were heard
from, and in almost every instance they
were all found to the westward of this
harbor and from five to 200 miles away
from the spot where they were dumped
into the sound.
The fact that none of the Holsters was
found north of Cape Cod has been q
source of surprise to the commissioners
for they believed that sooner or later
some of them would be caught by the
fishermen who set pots along the Cape
Cod bay shore and at Plymouth. The
| fishermen north of Cape Cod have been
keeping sharp lookout for the tag
bearers ever since they were set free, but
not one of them has been seen.
HOLSTERS are plentiful in the waters
north of Cape Cod, but they undoubted-
ly belong to another tribe. and so do not
mingle with those that inhabit the
waters of the cape and along Vineyard
sound.