Daily Kennebec journal., 1910-09-15
THE LOBSTER SUPPLY.
Prices Always High, No Matter Wha'
1t Is.

That is a timely word of cheer Whlch
George NJ. Bowers. United States fish
commissioner, brought back with hlH
from Europe and let loose OIL 'ic
winds Saturday night.
New York. he said, need not pe uis
turbed about Il paucity OF lopst1rs a'
ter September !. There are no" H.
Maine it is explained about one nun
drea thousand summer VISITORS WIZ
lobster appetitcs, and when they faV'
hacked up and gone to their homes VI
1ariors sections of the country. tht
lobster army will begin to move tins
wav. the fish commission has planted
about one hundred ana fortY-elght mli-
lion Holsters or lobster fry along tie
Maine coast and the commissioners
thinks that they ought to be ripe
enough to pick" and to ship this sea
son.
II might be well to remind Commls
sio,er Bowers that it is not paucitE
of Holsters that worries New Workers
and other lobster-lovers from one enc
of the country to the other, but th
price of them. Year in ana year ou'
| that seems to successfully defy the
law of supply and demand; the re'al
price in the markets rarely or neN@'
goes down, no matter how plentiful TN
supply may be; but it never fans u
60 up when there is the slightest sho"
Of scarcity: while on the motel ar'
re sta1irant menus the price has peei
climbing steadily for years. Lopstors
at retail here in Now York comman"
frcro 95 to 40 cents per pound, the live
ones are generally about cents pei
pound more than the boiled ones; the*e
prices seem to hold very steadily villa
in the limits named through Sufnln"'
and winter alike. and they seldom get
below 80 cents. LobSters cost mucl
more than beef. mutton, pork or pou''
try: vet they are a pi oduct of tne St
- il costs nothing to raise them: in
work If catching them is neither hare
nor hazardous: and the shipment %
them is not cxpcnsive-they are perish
atle. of course, but stand long trans
portation very we'll
They ought to he about the chear
est natural food product that goes or
to a mans table in every s"acoast stall
north of Cape Hatteras; but they are
about the highc priced product. eyer
in Maine, Massachusetts. Rhode lsian'
and Connecticut, where they abound
The laws of these states restrict th'
catching of them in different ways, hGr
always with the purpose of preserving
the supply. Still. if every one of the
FISH commissions 1iS,O0O00o loDSterS
"pianted'' along the Maine coast were
to live and reach the marketable size
It is doubtful If the retail price here II
New York would drop in consequence"
Aprarently. there arc not enough peo-
pie engaged in The lohster-catching in
dustry except FOR the canneries-and II
is no doubt duo in large part to th1
growth OF this latter business th2i
fresh 1nhstcrS command so high
price. in the city markets of the east
ern states.
Lobqters arc always reasonahl'
cheap in the ElartiIue provinces
many points only from . to 10 cents
pound at retail or even cheaper when
sold by the dozen or hall dozen. Anc
they NAV lie imported into this Coul-
try free of duty. There ought to he q
big profit in importing Thorn. If tire
United t;tates FISH commission VIII
keep on planting lobster fry" and
al the same time discover a remedy
for high priced fresh Holsters in This
country. it will confer boon upon mil
lions of people New York CONNER
1ial.