The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1906-05-20
he Lobster Fishery.
Its Rapid Decline and the Steps Taken
By CHARLES MINOR BLACKBOARD, N. b. !.
to Restore It.

hole and devoured $500 fry In the course
OF the night. Besides the risk OF being
eaten, the youngsters run a chance OF
being blown ashore and stranded by
the wind, and of being left high and
dry on the snnd by n receding tide. AS
the lnrvnl stage lasts from ten to sixteen
days. It can be seen that death loss must
DO enormous.
70 Offset this loss by artificial culture
Is not only possible, but can DO made
q proftable industry. Tho first practical
work in lobster culture was done In 1883,
and since that time the United States
Commission OF Fish and Fisheries, CO.
operating with the States interested. has
Matched and planted many hundreds Of
millions Of fry from it's marine stations
ut Woods Hole and Gloucester, on the
Massachusetts, coast. In recent years
the work OF gathering brood Holsters has
been thoroughly and systematically con-
Quoted. Each season for several months
before tho Matching time the whole New
England const Is patrollcd, and practi-
caly every egg bearing lobster has been
secured. BY nm arrangement with the
state authorities. the fishermen hold the
brood Holsters until an agent OF the
Commission (now the Bureau Of Fish
erics) can collect them, which no does
BY paying a price for them that Is
slightly above their market value.
The berried Holsters are sent to the
hatcheries where the eggs are removed
and the HOLSTERS sent back to their
points of capture to be set at liberty.
Agents are also stationed at the places
where Holsters are brought In from the
Canad ian provinces, and the eggs OBJ
tanned from this source In some years
amount to several millions.
Rv 4 he flfOp the hulk OF the eggs
reach the stations, the time for hatch
Ing is close at hand. All that is needed
! Is an ample supply Of sea water, but
with che appearance OF the larvae. trou-
ble"' begins. THE fearlier experimenters
tried all sorts oftrccepta cles$ for the fry
wooden tanks and tanks Of wire net
ting, Some With gSarel bottoms and
some partly filled with sand: glass aqua
ria. stone aquaria. deep and shallow;
cars OF scrim cloth sunk deep In the
water or floating at the surface-all were
tried without success. The fry seemed
to get on finely until the time for the
first mott, and then they died in great
numbers. This mortality was repeated
at each succeeding mott, and rarely could
more than half a dozen survivors be had.
no matter what the original number
might? have been.
At last scrim bags. feet long. 4 feet
wide and feet deep. were tried. gThe
top Of the bag was fastened to frame
of wood floating on the water. and the
bottom was kept submerged by sinkers
The tides and the winds kept the water
In motion. and made the loose sides flap
back and forth, creating constant cir
culation, and preventing the fry from
sinking to the bottom. It was found
that this circulation Is essential. calm
OF even few hours being fatal. so the
next step was to- provide some means of
keeping the water agtated. Mr.. George
IT, Sherwood, Of Brown University. was
invited by the Rhode Island Commission
of Inland Fisheries to conduct some cY
perlmcnts to this end at its float ting
laboratory at Wexford, r. L.. and In
April. 1901, lie went there for that pur-
pose. He devised airearing pen that
consists Of n series of scriln bags. cyln-
drical in shape and supported by a
wooden frame. In the lower part OF each
bag he placed two-bladed fan or pro-
peler on vertical shaft that was con-
nccted to horizontal shaft above the
.,well.r This shaft lie rotated BY q gaso-
line engine and the whrllng fans made
n current in the bags from bottom to top.
As. soon as this arrangement was put
into opcration the death rate declined,
and in his earlier experiments the aver
age percentage OF larvae that reached the
lobsterlinE stage rose to 27.25, and IN
one case it was over fifty.
This difficulty having been surmounted'
the food problem demanded attention
The rapidly Of the growth of.the young
lobster depends largely on two factors
Tho temperature OF the water, and the
abundance Of suitable food. Other things
being equal, the colder the water the
slower the development. and vice versa,
but this is matter that Is practically
beyond control. Nourishment is within
control, however, and Is Of great I'm.
portance. for poorly nourishcd Try VIII
remain In the arval stage for three or
four weeks, even If they should live so
long. Hunger also leads to cannibalism,
and that means heavy loss. so great
care should be taken that the fry have
abundant food. After many trials 1t was
found that the oily flesh of the men
haden fulfilled every requirement. The
fish were run through an ordinary
grinder, and the minced flesh thrown
into the tanks. It's oily nature prevented
its sinking and it was eagerly devoTcd,
1t is. now the standard food for fry1and
|flobsterlings.
1T has been demonstrated that 1t Is
| not only possible to rear Holsters IN en-
closures until they attain marketable
! size. but that such an undertaking won'n
be !; commercial success. There Is room
for Improvement In the manner of STIR
ring the water. and the bags should be
of some more durable material than
scrim, but the machinery Is simple and
| cheap and the other essentials for lobster
| c.hture are not expensive, and u 70
! per cent of the fry can be brought TO
market, the industry will be highly pro-
| fitable.
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